Making the Most of Living in the Place They Love

ChooseHome members: Alan and Elizabeth Melton

They started in Oklahoma, two kids growing up "where the winds come sweeping down the plains," to two mothers who were great friends. Then, as young adults, Alan and Elizabeth Melton reconnected in Washington where he was in law school and she was finishing up a semester at American University. "His mother said 'take her out' and he said 'no, she's way too tall,'" Elizabeth said.

"But I did," Alan said, finishing the story. After nearly 60 years of marriage, they can do that. "So I borrowed a roommate's cowboy boots…" "...and I learned not to wear heels," Elizabeth added.They married in 1958, moved to Germany where Alan served in the military and then, after Alan took the foreign service exam and joined the U.S. State Department as a foreign service officer, all over the world.

They raised their children, learned about new cultures and shared adventures in Laos, France and Thailand. When it came time to retire, though, "we knew Williamsburg was where we wanted to be," Alan said. "We spent a great deal of time in Northern Virginia and knew we wanted to come here.

"Why? Because in Williamsburg, they said, the adventures and ability to keep learning could continue.

"I don't think there is another city this size in the country that offers as many cultural attractions as Williamsburg," Alan said. Between the Christopher Wren Association for lifelong learning at the College of William and Mary, to the library programs and museums, there is always something to do, always something to learn.

"We stay very busy, very active," Elizabeth said. That's the very reason that when it came time to choose how and where they were going to live in Williamsburg, they chose ChooseHome. "We'd been talking back and forth about ChooseHome," Alan said. "Elizabeth wanted us to move into the Williamsburg Landing…""…but Alan was dragging his feet," Elizabeth said.

"Then we saw ChooseHome, and decided to check it out," Alan said. And they are so very glad they did. They love their active lives –living only a mile or so from Williamsburg's famed Duke of Gloucester Street, volunteering in the community, learning new languages in their Christopher Wren courses and coming home to a home they love.

"ChooseHome fits us really nicely –staying in our home and someone looking after us," Alan said from his dining room overlooking a bird haven in their backyard early one morning –a favorite spot in their home. "As long as there is both of us, we will stay in our home as long as we can."