Texas Couple Shares What to Look for in a New Community When the Time Comes to Downsize

(Fort Worth, Texas) – Every change of season brings with it a natural urge to declutter. For Mike Zeka and his wife, Juli, who are now in their 70s, Spring 2021 also brought on the urge to move.

“We had been living in a three-bedroom, ranch-style house in Watauga, Texas, and the maintenance and yardwork was getting to be too much for us,” said Mike.

“That and we were really only using three of the rooms—the bedroom, kitchen and living room. It was getting pretty tiresome to keep up with the housecleaning,” said Juli.

Living in Watauga was beginning to feel lonely for the couple too. “Most of our long-time neighbors had already moved on, and the neighborhood was transitioning over to young families. We didn’t have anything in common with most of our neighbors.”

Around the time they were getting the urge to move, Juli started doing some research and called A Place for Mom, an online company that provides families with information about living options for older adults in communities across the country.

“The woman I spoke with said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but a new place just opened up in Keller,’ which was just a hop, skip and jump away. I said, ‘Great, we’ll go look at it,’” said Juli, who made an appointment to visit Album Keller Ranch the same day.

“We looked around, loved it, and turned in our application the same day,” she added. Once they made the decision to move, the Zekas put on a huge garage sale.

“We sold a lot of stuff, and pretty much donated the rest of the things we didn’t need anymore,” said Mike, who happily added the couple started with a clean slate when they moved into a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor of Album Keller Ranch.

“We kept my cedar chest, some pictures and an antique buffet, but the rest of the furniture we moved into the apartment was brand new. We wanted a clean break and a new start,” said Juli.

That is exactly what they got. Now at Album Keller Ranch, the Zekas are surrounded by people their own age. “Our neighbors have become our dear friends,” said Mike, who begins a typical day enjoying coffee with the guys as they play a game of Rummikub. Then he and Juli come together again and participate in the daily activities offered for residents.

“We keep a pretty full calendar,” said Juli. “Every day there are meetings to attend and activities to participate in. Living in a community like this provides us with socialization and new friends.”

“The camaraderie here is very strong,” added Mike.

According to the American Public Health Association, socialization has many health benefits. It improves people’s moods, cognition and memory recall, and is associated with healthy behaviors such as exercising.

For Juli and Mike, socializing is something they enjoy doing pretty much every day. They were among Album Keller Ranch’s first residents when the community opened its doors in 2021 and have been serving as community ambassadors pretty much since the beginning.

“We run Bingo on Wednesday nights, and we have activities all during the month that either we will run, or other people will run,” said Mike. The Zekas also coordinate the community’s year-long volunteer and fundraising activities for Community Storehouse, a local nonprofit that provides crucial resources such as food, household necessities and education to low-income families in Tarrant County, Texas.

The Zekas say they are just as busy today as they were when they were working. Mike retired from a job as a controller for a construction company. Juli used to be an office manager for a pest control company.

About Keller Ranch

Album Keller Ranch, which is located at 5640 Keller Ranch Road, Fort Worth, TX 76244, is a 55+ apartment community that offers residents a renewed sense of purpose with the luxury of time to explore a lifestyle that fulfills them and brings meaning to their day. The community features maintenance-free living in one-and-two-bedroom apartment homes that each include stainless-steel appliances, a full-sized washer and a dryer, dual vanities, spacious walk-in closets, private balconies or patios on the first level.

Plus, there are plenty of on-site activities to keep residents busy, including a heated swimming pool, a clubhouse, modern fitness center, yoga studio, art room, outdoor kitchen and dining areas and more.

For more information about the community, go to AlbumKellerRanch.com