Real Life Stories: Westerleigh PARC, Bette

Resident profile

Resident: Bette
Past occupation: Nurse
Moved from: Sidney, BC
Number of years at Westerleigh PARC: 5
Her life’s purpose: “To be healthy and happy.”
Wise words: Your attitude towards life should be one of joy because we are blessed to live in this country, and we should take advantage of it. The energy you give out is returned to you double-fold.”

Westerleigh PARC resident, Bette has been living at the Westerleigh since it opened, making the move from Sidney, BC with her husband. As beautiful and picturesque as Sidney was, the move to West Vancouver brought Bette closer to family and freed her and her husband from the burden and expense of maintaining a house.

“I don’t have to worry. We can go on holidays if we want and I can visit my family. I just wouldn’t be able to do that if we were still living in a house. All of the staff here are so wonderful and my husband is so happy here. ”

Since moving to the Westerleigh, Bette greatly appreciates the beautiful ocean and mountain views, as well as the wonderful new friends she’s made.

On a typical day, you’d be hard pressed to keep up with Bette. “I love going to different activities. There’s so much that goes on here that often I can’t do it all,” she says enthusiastically.

One of her favourite resident activities is the weekly bus trip to local events or points of interest. “I’ve learned more about Vancouver since we moved over here than I ever knew existed because of those bus trips. They’re wonderful. The drivers are excellent. They know their routes and give us a lot of information about the buildings,” she says.

Although Bette finds great joy in participating in many of the activities that Westerleigh PARC has to offer, one activity she always makes time for is meditation. In fact, she started the healing circle, a group of residents that meet to meditate and practice mindfulness together. “I’ve been meditating for over 40 years. It’s just a wonderful way to relax and to calm yourself down. It really does make a huge difference.”

Catch a glimpse of what Bette gets up to on a typical day at Westerleigh PARC.

A day in the life of Bette

“I get up in the morning and have breakfast in the suite. My husband usually then goes downstairs to read the newspaper. I stay up in the suite and do whatever needs to be done, make the bed, tidy up and everything, which is fun because then we have a little time apart!”

“I go down to an exercise class after. We exercise probably six to seven days a week. If it’s a beautiful day, we’ll go for a walk afterwards.”

“They also have bus trips that we go on. I have learned more about Vancouver since we moved over here than I ever knew existed because of those bus trips. They’re wonderful. The drivers are excellent. They know their routes and give us a lot of information about the buildings.”

“I came across a book called The Power of Eight, and it was written by a researcher who said that when you have eight people in a healing group, you get amazing results. Anybody can start it, it’s strictly for meditation using universal energy for healing.”

“I’m just amazed. We’ve had [the meditation circle] going now for about three months. We meet every Thursday morning for half an hour and we meditate. We hold our hands in a group and focus on somebody who needs healing and we focus on seeing their bodies being healed. Everybody just loves it. They get a great deal out of it.”