Closing the gap

As the large metal doors opened to the second floor of the Faatz-Crofut Home in Auburn, 80-year-old Glen Prudom stepped aside and let two women onto the elevator. Being the gentleman he is, he pushed a few buttons for them and stepped out into the white hallway.

"There you go. That will take you to the floor you need," Prudom said, smiling before he headed down to his room at the end of the hallway to work on his word puzzles.

Prudom is one of only nine men currently living in the building. But although men are traditionally outnumbered by women in nursing facilities and adult homes, the gap is closing as the life expectancy between men and women closes.