We all know that Ibis is an active and adventurous place—our residents live life to the fullest and it shows every day on the vibrant streets of our community. We love capturing this shared joie de vivre on these pages, and this month we’re going to introduce you to a couple that maximizes every experience available to them. Jamie and Lena Allison are constantly on the go, but they were kind enough to talk to us so we could share their story with you.

 

The Allison’s story begins back in their shared native state of Michigan. While they both attended the University of Michigan, they met later in life when they both went to work for Ford. Jamie pursued a career with the legendary car marker due to his life-long enthusiasm for what they could offer: “I grew up loving speed, loving cars, and loving the pursuit of adventure. I always try to find time to pursue my passions, and all of this along with a love of Ford racing led me to Ford.” 

 

Lena interned for Ford twice while pursuing her own career in HR, and the two met during that time. Lena’s career at Ford was a rich and varied one—almost unbelievably so in the current professional environment, as she tells us: “I know this never happens anymore, but I ended up working at Ford for 30 years. I had 18 or 19 positions in different facets of the company because they moved us around. I finally retired at the end of 2021, I had 30 years with Ford and Jamie had 34 years.”

 

Retirement from Ford opened the horizon for new adventures, and the couple found themselves drawn to Ibis due to Lena’s parents, Sami and Hala Harb living in the community. She recalls her earlier experiences with the neighborhood and how much she had loved visiting: “My parents live here in Ibis—they’ve lived here for 19 years. We used to visit ever since my daughter was 4 years old, we’d come for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we made friends here. We got to know the community and love it. So, we had it in the back of our heads that maybe we could retire here. When COVID hit, Ford started allowing us to work at home, so we rented here for a season prior to retirement. The question for us was “We know the place, but could we live here?’ The answer to that was yes.”

 

Jamie is enthusiastic about many things, but the appeal of Ibis is a subject near and dear to his heart: “The appeal of Ibis is that it really is like a camp. When you’re a kid you go to camp, and you have so much joy in playing with other kids who all are at the same phase of life. It’s the same but for adults—we’re all later in life and we can do all these different activities.”

 

What activities fill their days? This is one active couple, so there’s a lot. Jamie is the head of the Ibis car club, which has activities throughout its season allowing members to share their love of great cars and automotive engineering. Both Lena and Jamie love physical activity—she’s self-described “workout junkie” who also works as a group fitness trainer and enjoys pickleball while Jamie pursues his love of adventure via endurance sports—including triathlons and Ironman competitions. Their daughter Sydney lives in California and works for Apple, but still comes home for the holidays.

If you get a chance to spend time with the Allison’s—either around the neighborhood or at the gym—we recommend you do so. They’re a lot of fun to talk to and engage with. Just make sure you can keep up!