"My name is Caroline Evangelista and I live at The Bristal. I worked in Manhattan for The Hearst Corporation and I was Assistant to the President, so I did a lot of things, you know. I like it so I worked until I was 74 years old. I had an accident where I broke my heel and my shoulder, and so it was surgery, and I went to rehab for three and a half months, and then my family decided they didn't want me to live alone anymore. So I decided to come here, and I think it, well I know it was the best decision I've made in a long time.
A couple of my friends had said "they're putting Caroline in a nursing home?!" But when they come here, they can't believe it - it's not at all! If you need help, you get help, 24/7. If you don't show up for breakfast, oh boy, they come to your room, they'll come in, it's unbelievable, it's a great place. So I mean, we live here, but we really have a life.
I just planned a cruise to Bermuda in October. I go on cruises all the time. I just booked one the other day, 'cause I'm going on my cruises no matter what! So, I mean, it's like you live here and you have assistance if you need it, which thank God so far I'm okay, but it's really, you could do what you want, you know. You can go out, family, on the holidays I stay over. So it's really a pretty good life.
They do everything for you here, and I mean everything. Since I've been here, I have made friends that you would not believe. They're almost like lifelong friends, really and truly. It's unbelievable.
First I said it's like living in a hotel. But then someone said, "you know, it's like being on a cruise." You can eat, you've got three meals a day, all this going on, you've got the pool. We get entertainment all the time. It is, it's like being on a cruise - that's probably why I like it here!"
