My earliest childhood memories are listening to my father, Frank W. Rees Jr., give design presentations on senior living communities. At the time, I didn’t understand the impact that shadowing my dad, who founded his architecture and design firm in 1975, would make on my personal life and professional career.

During college, however, I started out wanting to do anything but architecture, majoring in finance and international business before eventually going into interior design. It was during an internship with HKS Inc. that I worked on my first healthcare projects and felt my work was making an impact on people’s lives. This experience put me on a similar career path as my father, and in 2009, I joined his firm, focusing on its senior living practice.

As I reached my early 20s, my family recognized that my mother, Joanie, was beginning to get frustrated with simple tasks and having memory issues beyond her “silly” personality. A visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital confirmed that her cognitive disability was most likely Alzheimer’s. It was a very tough moment in my life.
Later, when I had a family of my own, I mourned the loss of the traditional mother-daughter experience. I couldn’t ask my mother to watch my daughter when she was born, and my husband and stepson knew her only with memory challenges.

When my mother moved into Silverado Senior Living at Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, my perspective began to change as I started to feel the impact that design has on families. The Silverado community has several amenity spaces, including a bistro and a community playground, where families can go with their loved ones. My children looked forward to visiting their grandmother and spending time in these places, and my mother could interact with them, which gave us all positive memories of her. The neighborhood design also allowed us to connect with other families, creating an extended family that understood one another.


In December 2017, my mother lost her battle with Alzheimer’s. However, her legacy extends beyond my family and friends and affects every client and senior living community I work with. I believe in lifelong learning—my mom would share with everyone who would listen that she had Alzheimer’s and to learn from her.

Ultimately, I’ve learned to live in the moment, have patience, and be present. I share my firsthand experience with Alzheimer’s with owners and operators and recommend design solutions like playgrounds to assist family members in making that connection that’s often missed and intimate lounge areas where families can spend quality time together. This is the greatest gift I can share to help other families as they traverse their own journey.

Environments for Aging is introducing The Spark, a new column that shares industry members’ personal accounts of the moments, people, or projects that inspired them to dedicate their careers to improving environments for seniors. If you’re interested in sharing your story, contact Executive Editor Anne DiNardo at anne.dinardo@emeraldexpo.com.

Illustration: Nathalie Dion