“I love this place because we meet so many people to learn from,” says Pat Corcoran. “And every night, we reconvene.”

When Pat says “we,” she means herself and her sister Jeanne, who lives just two doors down the hall from her at St. John’s Meadows. The two of them are together at one or the other’s apartment just about every evening to talk about their respective days.

According to the sisters, who are 11 years apart, they are not alike in terms of personality, but could not imagine spending this time of their lives with anyone else.

“I am older,” says Jeanne, “so I go with the flow and Pat is more Type-A.”

“We are very different people, our apartments are even different, but everything in my life has always involved Jeanne,” says Pat.

“She’s quite literally been here all my life and always been a big influence.”

The two reminisce about their childhood and the large age gap, which they highlighted in a recent LifeBio presentation. Both agree that Jeanne raised Pat in many ways. “And she was a doll when she came into the family,” says Jeanne with a laugh.

“I was always with Jeanne and even when she went to college and got married, we remained close,” says Pat.

Pat’s admiration for her sister goes beyond childhood memories. Pat explains that Jeanne was the first person in her family to attend and graduate from college.

“We grew up in Auburn; it was really rural and no real opportunity for culture,” says Pat. “But Jeanne was the one to open doors, not only for me but for our three brothers — Jeanne became a revolutionary.” Jeanne responds with a modest “thank you” and a laugh.

“It’s true,” says Pat, “you did something totally different than anyone in our family and I looked up to you, still do.”

Pat jokes that she would probably not be retired yet from a job in retail and absolutely “lost” without her sister. However, both sisters found themselves working instead as teachers and for a brief period after college, Pat lived with Jeanne and her family in Corning.

“She opened her home to me, we had a lot of fun and I am now close with her children,” says Pat.

“It is interesting,” says Jeanne, “the cycle of life, we start out together and then life happens and now we’re ending up together which is…”

“…pretty nice,” says Pat, who finishes her sister’s sentence.

The Corcoran sisters moved into Chestnut Court at St. John’s Meadows three years ago. “We looked at two other places, but we knew from people that live here that this is where we wanted to be,” says Jeanne.

“We originally wanted a two-bedroom apartment so we could live together,” says Jeanne. They were on a waiting list for a year and were in communication with St. John’s Community Representative Stephanie Krebbeks.

“Stephanie was very helpful and suggested we look at separate apartments, which ended up working out perfectly for us,” says Pat.

“You walk in and there’s just a comfortable air about this place and we knew that this was the place.”

The pair live two doors down from each other and can be seen walking in and out of each other’s apartment. “Pat goes to more evening meetings, she’s a lot busier than me,” says Jeanne, who prefers a more relaxed lifestyle. She starts her day off by watching mass on television, then she attends an exercise class, followed by a shopping outing and depending on the day, volunteering at the concierge desk.

Both are interested in religion and have spent the past year attending as many of the St. John’s spiritual programs as possible.

“We are Catholic, but we realized how much we don’t know about the Bible, so we have been learning a lot about that, and Patrick has welcomed our questions.”  Patrick Crumity is a St. John’s Spiritual Care Partner who leads many services and prayer groups at St. John’s Meadows.

Along with her community volunteer efforts, Pat sings at a local Presbyterian church and the two attend the service every Sunday. “That is something I just go into, there are people here that have been in choirs their whole life — it’s amazing to learn from everyone.”

The sisters have a booked social calendar but always find time to chat about their day each evening. Like clockwork, Jeanne or Pat will knock on the other’s door to discuss their eventful days. Most nights they call their “shared” families.

“My grandson who is five, will always ask for ‘Grandma Jeanne,'” says Pat. The two sisters often receive visits from their children and grandchildren, who similar to Pat, think of St. John’s as a “fun hotel.”

“But it does feel like home,” says Jeanne.

The two agree that they could not imagine living anyplace else — with anyone else. “She is a big part of my life,” says Pat.

Jeanne shares her younger sister’s sentiments and compassionately says, “I could not imagine being here with anyone other than her.”