KINGS POINT DOCUMENTARY TELLS THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT AGING
First off I want to thank Ronni Bennett from Times Goes By for her Saturday "Interesting Stuff post" about the  "Kings Point Documentary" which was shown on HBO Sunday night.  My husband and I spent many wonderful winters there and if I had missed seeing this documentary I would have missed something that was very special to me.



From the very moment the film started I was captivated by how "they explained" what was going on in New York in 1972, there were population changes, thefts and serious crimes that were affecting the daily lives of the residents.



At that time a Senior Retirement community in Florida started offering  condominiums at a very reasonable price.  When the New Yorkers learned about Kings Point they stood in line to buy a little bit of heaven.  They packed up, left friends and family and started a new life.

This film was ten years in the making and follows the lives of six people who express their thoughts about their life experiences.

So much of what they had to say are things that I have felt, thought and discussed with my friends as time goes by.

For example:   One gentleman explains to a lady friend - he loves her, enjoys the companionship but
he doesn't want anymore than that because he says, "he buried one wife and that's enough for him."

A woman says, "my children want me back up North."  "My daughter has her life - my grandchildren have their lives."  "I'm staying here."

Another woman said,  "A man would like me to take care of him, I just have to take care of myself. (that reminds me of a saying I heard in Florida -" the man wants a nurse with a purse.")"

I found most of the documentary sad because it was mostly about what has happened to the residents in recent years.  For example:  One scene takes place in the ballroom on New Years eve, the place is jumping,  as only seniors can jump, not much.

The next scene shows the same couple dancing years latter. There are just a few people present and the lady says to her gentleman friend, years ago you had to stand in line to make sure you got a ticket for the NewYears Eve dance.  "Sad."

What I did enjoy about this film was when they had shots of "my familiar hangouts like the Burgundy Pool, the Flanders Clubhouse, Monaco clubhouse and even where we dumped the trash!

I was always a snowbird, only there for the winter and did not own a condo so when it came time to stay up north, I just walked away.  Seeing this film got me thinking about how lucky I was to be at Kings Point in its hey day and  able to share good times with family and friends.

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