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One by one the group of four takes their place around the table for an hour of trivia fun. Resident Mary Grubb and her team are ready for another spirited competition with fellow Tower at The Oaks residents.

A question is asked and participants whisper among themselves as they agree on their answers and write them down. At Mary Grubb’s table, though, frivolity is mixed with seriousness.

She can’t help herself. Mary loves life and exudes joy in most everything. Even a serious trivia competition.

“Oh my gracious it’s so much fun,” Mary exclaims. “It’s my favorite thing to do. You’d be amazed at some of the questions and more amazed that you know the answers!”

The exuberance in her voice as she describes living at The Oaks of Louisiana gives way to laughter, which comes not only from her mouth but is in her eyes, in the way her face changes as she speaks of her life today.

A resident of the Tower since moving from Ohio in 2012 to be near daughter Betsy Sample, Mary brought with her inexhaustible joie de vivre.

“I love everything about life here,” she says. “There is so much to do. We have so much fun.”

She particularly enjoys Taste of the Town off-campus dining excursions and monthly birthday parties, participates in social events, and attends special activities and programs. Staying physically and mentally active, she knows, is good for her overall well-being.

So are friendships. Close friends Ruth Lewis and Lucille Williams, among others, enrich her life and are often co-conspirators in any harmless fun directed at another unsuspecting friend.

“Friendships at our age are entirely different from friendships we formed while raising our families,” Mary says. “We depend on each other. We check on each other.”

“We” primarily includes all the residents on the first floor of D wing of the Tower. “We have all bonded so well,” Mary says. “We are all outgoing and all are game for about anything. We celebrate birthdays and have everyone over to our apartments. We eat lunch together. We enjoy each other and being together.”

Life is good.