April 8, the entire nation gazed up at the sky to witness a rare total solar eclipse. The view was especially good in some locations.
Among the viewers were senior living residents from coast to coast; many, like Highline Place, an Anthem Memory Care community in Littleton, CO, even made the occasion a full-on celebration. The community invited fourth-graders from STEM School Highlands Ranch to join them for a picnic viewing party.
“Learning new things isn’t just for school children,” said Jodi Cornman, senior community relations director for Highline Place. “The magic of this seldom seen phenomenon brings a sense of wonder and unity to the two generations.”
At University Village Thousand Oaks continuing care retirement community, the eclipse could be considered a field trip for the community’s astronomy class. Resident Karl Martersteck, who did some work for NASA’s Lunar Landing program while working for Bell Laboratories, runs a class full of lifelong learners who have professional backgrounds ranging from the natural sciences to engineering.
“I think a lot of the people have seen at least a partial eclipse,” Martersteck told KCLU. “Several have told me they’ve seen full eclipses, as have I. But there’s still a lot of excitement. For most of the people here, we are pretty painfully aware that the next eclipse will be 20 years from now, and most of us won’t be around to enjoy that. So that’s why I think they’re anxious to take advantage of today’s opportunity.”
Although it may be a while before the next eclipse, the memories made on April 8 will last a lifetime. Until then, stock up on eclipse glasses while they are cheap.
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