By Maya PORCELLI

The courtyard at Twelve Oaks Senior Living is a serene place. The summer sunlight passes through the oak trees and there’s a patio to enjoy the view of the mountains. This is the birthplace of resident Joseph Shelton’s most recent play, “The Journey of Monarch and His Friends.”

The production stars six characters: a monarch butterfly, a viceroy butterfly, a red admiral butterfly, a black butterfly, a blue butterfly and a green butterfly. In his play, Shelton, 98, gives butterflies real human problems and mixes facts about the creatures with fiction. The yearly migration of monarch butterflies is something that is well known, but Shelton decided to put a twist on it.

“What I did was humanize the butterflies, as if it were humans flying down to Mexico to get away from the cold,” he explained.

Shelton’s fascination with these insects started about three years ago when his children gave him books to draw butterflies.

“When I saw these butterflies, I said, ‘My goodness, these are beautiful things,’” Shelton recalled. This appreciation led him to writing the first iteration of this story.

“I wrote a short story about the yearly monarch migration for my great grandkids when they were toddlers. They enjoyed it, but they lost it. So, I had to write a script from scratch,” he said.

Writing is not a new hobby for Shelton; he has been scribbling down stories for decades.

“He has been writing for all my life. He’s written poems for people he works with and family. Stories just come to him,” said Mark Shelton, his son.

He has always used his writing to unite others. Joseph and his friends would sit on the patio in the evenings and go through a script, adding small details until it was just right.

“They’ve accused me of being the one who brought everybody together,” Shelton said.

Shelton savors every moment he has with his friends and cherishes the time spent and friends he has made at Twelve Oaks.

“I’ve been laughing since I’ve been [at Twelve Oaks] because they’re so funny. In fact, I think some of us are going to live longer because we’ve been laughing so much,” he said.

The much-anticipated play is set to hit the stage on Friday, July 23, at Twelve Oaks Senior Living.