Sunday, March 23, 2008

life changes

My mother called this morning to say that she had finally made the big decision; the one that has been hanging over her for about a year now. It is time for she and my father to move into some type of assisted living/nursing home situation. My mother will be 85 this coming Thursday, my dad turned 96 in December.

this photo is at least three years old

It is good that she has made this decision on her own, out of her own realization that managing my father and the household is too much for her. I feel a mixture of guilt and sadness that I cannot do much to help her (and my brother) to deal with finding the right place to move to or to help with selling or disposing of all the household contents. I know she wishes that I would take some of their things, but the combination of distance (2500 miles), cost, and the fact that our home is already overflowing with too much stuff that we don't really need, makes that infeasible.

All I can do is listen to her when she needs to talk; thank goodness for inexpensive long distance telephone service.

2 comments:

Qaro said...

That sounds like a tough situation to be in. I'm sorry. It's good that she can talk to you.

Jessica said...

You are blessed to have parents that have lived so very long. You are even more blessed that she came to this decision on her own accord. I could not imagine having to make that decision on my parent's...well..my mom's behalf.

You are so very lucky that your mother's mind is still sharp. Sharp enough to at least know what is best. I'm sure that being able to talk to you about it (and everything else) makes her feel much better, and you as well.