A Palace for Mom: Why Stephanie DiGiorgio and Her Daughters Love Coterie

“I didn’t realize it was possible to make so many new friends after the age of 70,” she says. “And of course, the fact that I get to be so close with my three daughters and see them all the time is wonderful.”

All three of her daughters had settled in the Bay Area over the years. Her oldest, Karyn, now works as the Chief Research Officer at the non-profit Quantum Leap Health Care Collaborative, while her middle child, Lisa, worked for years as a fabric designer before retiring. Her youngest, Beth – “I still call Beth the baby, even though she’s 61 now,” says Stephanie – followed their mother’s path into the field of nursing.

Now Stephanie and her daughters spend Mother’s Day together every year, sometimes meeting for brunch and sometimes having a small celebration at one of her daughter’s houses.

“We try to keep Mother’s Day very loose and casual,” Stephanie says. “Sometimes the other big holidays can be too much of a production, with the girls all debating who should host dinner and things like that. But for Mother’s Day we just like to get together and have a fun time.”

Karyn credits her mother for inspiring her and her sisters to pursue their interests.

“Mom had a huge impact on all of us growing up,” Karyn says, noting that her mother always encouraged them to be independent and intellectually curious. “She was really smart and well-read and could have a conversation about anything we had questions about – history, economics, movies, anything. She loved having three girls.”

Karyn also notes that her mother’s impeccable fashion sense made a formative impression on her daughters.

“She was always up to date on the latest clothing styles and Italian designers, all that stuff,” Karyn says. “I think she was the first mom at our school to wear a miniskirt. Because of her, I knew what ‘shocking pink’ was before I learned my primary colors.”

Stephanie chose Coterie Cathedral Hill after being disappointed with another assisted living community.

“As soon as I visited Cathedral Hill, I said, ‘Wow, this place is a palace! And wouldn’t it be fun to live in a palace?’ And as soon as I moved in, I fell in love with the place.” She also loves the layout and comfort of her Coterie apartment, adding, “Whoever designed these apartments deserves to go straight to heaven.”

Stephanie spends much of her free time taking advantage of the cultural offerings available to her at Cathedral Hill. She enjoys watching movies in Cathedral Hill’s cinema room while eating classic movie theater fare like popcorn and Good & Plenty, occasionally joined by her daughter Lisa. A lifelong fan of opera, she also makes sure to watch performances by the Metropolitan Opera simulcast live from Lincoln Center whenever they’re available.

Her daughters visit her every week for lunch in Cathedral Hill’s Seven x Seven restaurant, where they catch up on each other’s lives, current events, and recent books and movies they’ve enjoyed.

“I feel very lucky that Mom’s still in great shape, mentally and physically, and that we still never run out of things to talk about,” Karyn says, adding that she appreciates the kindness and thoughtfulness of Coterie’s staff.

“I call it the Four Seasons for seniors,” she says. “And since my mother was one of the first people to move in, she knows everybody. Having lunch with her there is like having lunch with the mayor of Coterie.”