By the time Judy King officially became a resident at King’s Grant, she already knew the hallways. She knew the nurses. She knew the food. She even knew which campus events were worth showing up for. That’s because for eight years, she was visiting her mother in assisted living and she was becoming part of the community.
“I didn’t live here, but I felt like I did,” Judy says. “I just didn’t sleep here.”
Judy’s story spans decades, but the roots of it begin in the early years of King’s Grant itself. Her parents were among the first to buy in, planning ahead for a retirement that would one day bring them to the community. But her father was diagnosed with cancer and passed away before that plan could be realized. Her mother, dealing with her own health issues, resisted the idea of leaving home—despite knowing it was what she and her husband had planned together.
For a while, Judy and her brother tried to help her age in place. They brought in support, arranged for a cleaning woman to provide more hands-on care, and did what they could. But eventually, it became clear: she needed more.
“She wouldn’t consent to moving,” Judy says. “Even though it’s what they had planned for. It was the dog. She didn’t want to leave the dog.”
That changed when her mother fell, broke her knee, and was transferred to King’s Grant for rehabilitation. At first, she assumed it was temporary. But over time, the care and community began to shift something. When her dog passed away, so did the last thread tying her to the house.
“She became content very quickly,” Judy says. “She was never unhappy here.”
Her mother remained in assisted living for eight years, never transitioning to independent living. During that time, Judy became a regular presence—attending events, eating meals with her mother, walking the halls, and connecting with residents and staff. After losing her husband, she had more time and fewer obligations. She found herself drawn to the place.
When her mother passed away, Judy didn’t want to let go of that connection. She became a Trailblazer in 2011, keeping a steady presence through events and Wellness Center visits. She knew even then that this was where she wanted to be.
It wasn’t just her mother who drew her in. Judy had her own share of loss and life lived. She grew up in Martinsville, spent time away during college and marriage, and returned to raise her children on a farm in Franklin County. She was a teacher by training, but life pushed her in other directions. Her third pregnancy brought triplets. Her second child had a brain disorder and needed around-the-clock care. Teaching took a back seat. Grief, at times, took the front.
One of her triplets, her only son, passed away from a heart attack two years ago. Her daughter with the brain disorder died in 1983. Out of five children, three remain.
“To outlive your children,” she says, “it’s strange.”
She had hoped to come to King’s Grant with a partner later in life, a man she describes as a second love. He lived at Smith Mountain Lake and suffered from Alzheimer’s. Judy tried to bring him and his son to see the community, but they weren’t ready to commit. After his death, she found herself alone again—this time in a house she’d lived in for over 50 years, far from town and care, with health concerns of her own beginning to emerge.
That’s when she made the move.
Downsizing wasn’t easy. Neither was letting go of a home filled with memories. But Judy knew what she was stepping into: not just a campus with good care, but a community where she already belonged.
Today, she lives in a house on campus. She walks. She visits friends. King’s Grant, for Judy King, was never a last resort. It was a continuation—a next chapter that began long before she ever turned the key.
“I didn’t think about any of this when I was in my fifties,” she says. “But my parents did. And I’m grateful they did.”
