The moment you walk in Char Ann’s apartment, you begin to travel in time. You travel to her wedding day. Her family reunion. Her granddaughter’s graduation. To a family Christmas celebration. And a lazy, summer afternoon.

 The giant blanket hanging in her living room displays a lifetime of memories with Char Ann’s husband, their five children, 13 grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. It is clear she has lived a full and happy life surrounded by the people she loves, and she continues to live a full life at 10 Wilmington Place.

Char Ann was the youngest of seven children, so she was used to having a big family. After graduating high school, she got a job working as an estimator at Frigidaire, and she lived with two of her friends in an apartment on Salem Avenue in Dayton. Every weekend, they would go dancing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and meet all the “fly boys,” as she called them. Char Ann ended up meeting her fly boy, Al, at a party one evening.

“He was Air Force, an engineer, and he was fun. Just so much fun,” she said. They were married in 1954 when Char Ann was 19, and Al was 24.

Throughout the years, they went on to have their children, Diane, Karen, Allen, Linda, and Steve—though Char Ann admits it could be challenging at times while Al was traveling.When he was in California, New York, Washington, or Hawaii, Char Ann would get updates by watching the news or receiving his handwritten letters. Despite describing it as one of the hardest parts of their marriage, she fondly remembers the memories made with her children. “I loved to paint, but he didn’t like me to paint,” she said, laughing. “So as soon as he’d leave, I’d say, ‘Come on kids, we’re going to the paint store. All week we’re going to have hot dogs and hamburgers.”

Years later, they made many more memories as a family by taking an annual vacation to Hilton Head. Al and Char Ann fell in love with the area the first time they visited, and they looked forward to their two-week trip in October every year for 29 years.

It’s memories like these that Char Ann looks back on as she makes new memories at 10 Wilmington. Despite a difficult period following Al’s death, a hospital stay, and the transition to Independent Living, Char Ann has now settled in well to her new home.

“When I first came, I didn’t do very much,” she said. “I was in deep depression. They gave me a wonderful nurse who brought me so much good therapy. It’s good now, because I’m here and I just love this place. It’s like this place is meant for me.”

These days, Char Ann enjoys going to trivia, playing Wii bowling, and visiting with dogs whenever the Humane Society stops by. She’s a big dog lover, and even has her own stuffed dog in her apartment named Smooch. Her family still calls and visits, and she keeps up with them every day through Facebook on her iPad.

“I remember telling Al, ‘We’ve got a perfect family.’ We’ve had a very wonderful life, as you can see,” she said, gesturing to her blanket of memories. “A very wonderful life.”