Nancy and Al Miller love their spacious Hastings apartment home at Ann’s Choice. The high school friends got reacquainted decades after graduation and have been married more than 30 years
When Nancy and Al Miller were students at Bensalem High School, each had a high school sweetheart. They married those sweethearts and, as often happens, lost touch. Decades later, when they found themselves single again, they found each other.
Al says with a smile, “A friend set us up on a blind date. It clicked, and we’ve been married almost 31 years.” Their blended family includes 7 adult children and spouses, 16 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren. Nancy recalls hearing Al’s name before that fateful date. “A woman I worked with mentioned that she was seeing a really nice guy named Al Miller. I thought, ‘It couldn’t be the same Al Miller I knew from high school,’ but it was. Lucky for me it didn’t work out,” she laughs.
Al spent his career as a proud member of Philadelphia Local 19, where he worked as a sheet metal “sketcher,” turning mechanical drawings into fabrication blueprints. He retired in 1997. Nancy was a school secretary for 22 years. The couple wound up at Ann’s Choice, the Erickson Living-managed senior community in Bucks County, almost by accident.
Al explains, “We got an invitation for lunch and a tour, so we went. A few weeks later, we got another invitation, so we went back. They asked us what we were looking for in an apartment home, and I said, ‘We want to go topside.’ They showed us one on the 4th floor, and we decided right then it was the one for us.”
That apartment home is the Hastings, a spacious two-bedroom, two-bath model with a large floor-to-ceiling bay window in the living room.
“We watch the moon come up every night,” says Nancy. “It’s a beautiful view every season of the year.” Adds Al, “It’s a good space for us in a great location. We love the food, the amenities…we’re extremely happy that we moved here three and half years ago.”
Al’s favorite campus activity is Romeo’s Breakfast Club, a monthly meeting of 60-80 members that he laughingly calls “a club for guys who like to eat.” As the group’s treasurer, he collects $10 from each attendee for all-you-can-eat breakfast fare, including pancakes, eggs, bacon, and potatoes.
“We usually have a guest speaker and hold a 50/50 raffle,” he says. “The rest of the money goes to the Ann’s Choice Benevolent Care Fund.”
Nancy volunteers at the Treasure Chest, the community second-hand shop that raises money for charity. An avid crafter, she has crocheted more than 100 afghans for friends and family.
Nancy says they have made many wonderful friends at Ann’s Choice, including a number of former classmates. As long-time members of the Eastern Star, Al and Nancy were delighted to meet many other Masons. Al just received his 50-year pin from Newtown Lodge 27.
“We made the right decision to move to Ann’s Choice. It’s a wonderful place to live, and we couldn’t be happier,” says Nancy.
To learn more about Ann’s Choice’s active senior living lifestyle, visit AnnsChoiceCommunity.com.
Ann’s Choice, one of 20 continuing care retirement communities managed by Erickson Living®, is situated on a scenic 103-acre campus in Warminster, Pennsylvania. The not-for-profit community of more than 1,900 residents and 1,000 employees is governed by its own board of directors, affiliated with National Senior Campuses, Inc., who provide independent financial and operational oversight of the community. Additional information about Ann’s Choice can be found at AnnsChoiceCommunity.com
Written by Dorrie Anshel
