Other things people did following diagnosis include ending an unhappy marriage, starting a business and learning to play the piano.

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"It's a great place to live, and I think there's probably no better place in the world to die, " says Joanne Karp, an 81-year-old resident who was supposed to be in her room recovering from eye surgery but instead was down the hall at the piano, accompanying three kids learning to play the recorder.

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About 12 years ago she acted on her dream of learning to play the cello (she had been proficient on the piano) and now is a member of two amateur orchestras and a string quartet.

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