(Corrected: Monday, March 11)

It had been a busy day for Eleanor M. Davis, who turned 79 on Feb. 22, as she finished moving into her private apartment at Tockwotton on the Waterfront on the Providence River, the brand-new, $52.3 million facility that features a patient-centered model of living and continuum of care for seniors.

With the help of her daughter, Jennifer Davis, from Providence, and her former son-in-law, Michael Wilson, from Narragansett, Eleanor was now mostly settled into her one-bedroom assisted living suite on the fourth floor, overlooking the East Providence waterfront.

Her artwork still needed to be hung on the walls, and a few cardboard boxes still needed to be unpacked. The boxes provided an excellent foil for Eleanor’s black-and-white cat, Maura, which darted in and out among them as she explored her new environs during the conversation with a reporter (cats and small dogs are allowed at Tockwotton).

A proud, independent woman, Eleanor settled into her comfortable armchair, wrapped in a brightly colored shawl, and talked – with the help of Jennifer and Michael – about the difficult changes in the last year that had brought her to Tockwotton.

A former psychologist in private practice in New York City, and before that, a professional model, Eleanor had suffered a stroke during the last year, making it difficult for her to speak at times. Then her husband, George, had died. She had been forced to move out of her brownstone and into a very small room at an assisted-care facility with limited facilities.

Now, thanks in large part to the intervention of her daughter, Jennifer, who put Eleanor’s name on the waiting list back in August, Tockwotton is her new home. “Everyone’s really nice here,” Eleanor said, with a smile, saying that a number of her neighbors had already introduced themselves.