Never Stop Using My Hands: Peggy’s Story

A life of creativity and connection shows what active senior living in Marin can look like, with the freedom to keep doing what you love.

For Peggy Osterkamp, working with her hands has been a lifelong passion.

“Fibers and weaving are my life, and I want to keep weaving forever,” said Peggy. “I never want to stop using my hands.”

Peggy has lived at The Tamalpais Marin for 16 years. When she chose the Life Plan Community in Marin County, Peggy was looking for something important: community. She also wanted the freedom to continue the life she had already built.

Peggy’s weaving studio is just across the highway from The Tamalpais Marin. When she has a weaving project underway, she spends time there, then returns home to the community.

“That’s what I like so much, that I can come and go,” said Peggy. “I don’t have to participate if I don’t want to.”

That flexibility has allowed Peggy to maintain connections outside The Tamalpais while developing new ones within the community. Living in Marin County, with its longstanding appreciation for art, creativity, and the natural world, gives her opportunities to remain connected to a broader creative community while sharing her own love of art closer to home.

“I could have my outside life and my new inside life, and they can merge, and one can grow as the other diminishes.”

For Peggy, that balance is an important part of active senior living in Marin.

Weaving remains central to Peggy’s life, along with knitting and other handwork. She even finds opportunities to knit during meetings.

“I sort of look forward to meetings, because I can always knit during a meeting,” Peggy said.

Her creativity also extends to volunteering. Peggy organizes the art window in The Tamalpais Marin’s gift shop, where she features photographers, painters, and other artists from the community.

“I like to showcase people that we don’t know too well,” Peggy said.

Sixteen years after moving to The Tamalpais Marin, Peggy continues to create, contribute, and make time for what she loves.

Her hope for the years ahead is simple: to keep her hands and eyes working, and to keep weaving.

For Peggy, that means never stopping using her hands.

See how life at The Tamalpais Marin can give you more freedom to keep creating.