Two residents of Ingenia Lifestyle Lara have rekindled their love after unwittingly moving into the same retirement community a stone’s throw away from each other.
Di and Bruce Johnson, both in their 60s, purchased their properties in early 2017 before reuniting while participating in the community’s Be Active program.
“Although separating was truly awful, we wouldn’t have sold our home and downsized to Ingenia Lifestyle Lara otherwise, and if it wasn’t for this fantastic community we might not have gotten back together,” Bruce says.
“After we began spending more time together again I decided to open a love letter Di had written to me when we separated. It was unopen because previously I couldn’t bear to read it but, having the newfound hope we were rekindling, I thought, ‘What the heck’.
“After reading the letter I knew I was not letting this woman go again.”
The pair married 18 months later in Bruce’s backyard.
“When Bruce moved into the community we often saw each other around or passed each other in the street. We both love being social so we had a number of mutual friends in the community,” Di says.
“One day we were all chatting in the community clubhouse and it came up that I’d been unwell, so Bruce came over to make sure I was okay. Then we continued catching up and meeting at other at Ingenia’s Be Active events and activities.
“Within days of deciding we still wanted to be together we each put our homes on the market to buy a bigger home within the Ingenia community.
“As luck would have it, there was an open day that weekend, so we thought it was great timing, or possibly fate.”
The pair has just returned from their second honeymoon. They decided the Ingenia brand was their good luck charm and visited Ingenia Holidays Cairns Coconut resort this spring.
Ingenia Lifestyle was formed in 2013 as a leading owner, operator and developer of quality affordable seniors’ housing communities in Australia. With its focus always on the resident, Ingenia is committed to providing a superior quality of life to senior Australians.
More than 3500 Australian seniors currently call an Ingenia Lifestyle community home across more than 20 locations in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
“Our residents enjoy a lifestyle based on independence, wellbeing and active living,“ Ingenia says.
