Doris Bettin uses the second bedroom in her Monarch Landing apartment home as an art studio. (Submitted photo)

Doris Bettin has been retired for more than a decade, but her life is every bit as full as it was when she was working and raising three children with her husband.

Bettin worked as the director of Christian education at her Glen Ellyn church. In her position, she ran the Sunday school, trained and recruited volunteers, and organized special events. During the course of her career, Bettin returned to school to complete her bachelor’s degree and became certified as a rostered associated minister for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Bettin says she truly enjoyed her work and found it rewarding, but after nearly 20 years on the job, she was ready to retire. With some newfound leisure time, she turned her attention to painting and drawing, a hobby she had put on the back burner while she was building her career and her family.

A hobby, lost and found

As a child, Bettin loved painting and drawing, and when she picked it back up as an adult, she discovered that she still had the knack.

She joined the DuPage Art League in Wheaton, Ill., and began creating paintings in pastels and watercolors. Bettin has exhibited her artwork in several local galleries and has sold pieces to people in eight different states.

“It’s been very gratifying for someone my age to take up a hobby like that and have it also be beneficial financially,” Bettin says.

A new studio and a new start

She and her husband recently sold their Glen Ellyn house and moved to an apartment home at Monarch Landing, the Erickson community in Naperville, Ill., where Bettin uses the second bedroom as an art studio. She says she enjoys painting in her new studio because the room has eastern exposure and plenty of morning sunshine. She is currently working on portraits of her grandchildren.

Bettin was pleased to learn Monarch Landing has an on-site art studio where residents can exhibit work. And, she has found yet another market in her new neighbors—she sold two paintings at a recent Monarch Landing craft fair.

When Bettin isn’t painting or spending time with her children and grandchildren, she and her husband are enjoying their retirement, whether that is at home at Monarch Landing or out and about in the community. Bettin also remains involved with her Glen Ellyn church, where she is a member of the women’s group. In addition, she and Bill are both members of Morton Arboretum.

At Monarch Landing, Bettin and her husband are also enjoying getting involved with their new community. She has joined a Monarch Landing Bible study group and helps to organize mid-week interfaith services, while he has joined the golf league and regularly works out at the on-site fitness and aquatic center. Together, the couple has enjoyed special events like the recent Monarch Landing Artist Series, where they took in a performance of The New Odyssey, a trio that dazzles crowds with musical performances involving 30 different instruments. Bettin says she and her husband are looking forward to enjoying the warm summer weather outside on the patio near the community’s swimming pool.

“There is always something going on here at Monarch Landing,” Bettin says. “My daughter thinks it is like a landlocked cruise ship.”

Making new friends and rediscovering old ones

One of the most enjoyable things about living at Monarch Landing, Bettin says, is getting to know their neighbors. They already knew one couple from their church before they moved in, and since then, she has reconnected with an old college friend who is also a Monarch Landing resident.

“We are very impressed with the atmosphere here at Monarch Landing—the friendliness of staff and residents,” Bettin says. “There are no pretensions and the smiles are genuine; there is an air of relaxation.”