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Two elderly sisters support each other in Chicopee
Susie Odell and Kathleen Hayes rely on each other to live independently in South Hall
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Sisters Susie Odell and Kathleen Hayes live together in Chicopee Village. Odell is legally blind and Hayes cannot hear. But the two women — ages 100 and 94, respectively — live in a two-story two-bedroom home by themselves. Neighbors and Chicopee United Methodist Church members help care for the women.
Many seniors ages 80 and older are relegated to living in assisted-living housing or nursing homes because they are unable to care for themselves any longer, or at least need some help with everyday chores. But sisters Susie Odell and Kathleen Hayes prefer their living arrangement: Sharing a two-bedroom home in the Chicopee community in South Hall with some assistance from family and friends. And both women — Odell, who is 100 and mostly blind and Hayes who is 94 and mostly deaf — are perfectly content to remain that way for years to come.