After Lee Wachtstetter's soulmate passed away, she didn't know how to go on.
Her 10-acre Fort Lauderdale home felt empty and unlivable without her husband of 50 years. That's when the 86-year-old Florida widower decided to take her daughter's advice and sell the home…and listen to her husband's final wish.
"Mason was a banker and real estate appraiser and taught me to love cruising," Lee told the Asbury Park Press of her late husband. "During our 50-year marriage we did 89 cruises. I've done nearly a hundred more and 15 world cruises."
So when Mason Wachstetter told his wife to "never stop cruising" before he died, Lee knew what she had to do. "Mama Lee," as her friends and family call her, decided to spend her final days doing what she and Mason loved best — and for the past seven years, she says she has been living a "fairy-tale" life aboard the Crystal Serenity cruise ship.
Mama Lee estimates that her floating home costs her about $164,000 each year, but with meals, beverages, nightly shows, dancing, cocktail parties, movies, and constant care included, she says her life is a dream come true.
The 86-year-old says she loves meeting new friends every week, and that she has been to just about every country with a port. Would this active senior ever be caught stuck in a nursing home? Not a chance!
Learn more about Mama Lee sailing into the sunset below!
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Florida woman Lee Wachstetter sold her 10-acre Fort Lauderdale home to follow her husband's final request to her before he died.
"My husband introduced me to cruising," Wachstetter said of her late husband, who went on 89 cruises with her during their 50-year marriage.
Before Mason Wachstetter died, he told Lee to "never stop cruising." She took his advice seriously and has spent the last seven years living on the Crystal Serenity cruise ship.
Wachstetter estimates her living costs at about $164,000 a year, but says that the included meals, beverages, nightly ballroom dancing, and other activities makes it well worth it.
While some would worry about the 86-year-old's needs on the high seas, Wachstetter told Asbury Park Press that crew members bend over backwards to keep her happy. "Some are almost like family now. If they don’t have what I want, they get it. Even if they have to buy it off the ship or make it to my specific needs.”
And as for Wachstetter's health, she boasts that she hasn't had a sick day in all seven years on the ship. "I'm so spoiled I doubt that I would ever be able to readjust to the real world again," she told the Asbury Park Press.
