So, my mom lives in an 8 bedroom, 3 story house on a steep hillside. Her health is rapidly declining and she can no longer climb stairs or walk without a cane. She occasionally rents a room to a University exchange student (and after 30 years of this she has friends all over the world), but mostly she's on her own. She NEEDS to get out of that house and into a retirement community. Somewhere that if she doesn't show up for a meal because she can't get out of bed, someone will come looking for her. My mom spent most of her career working in nursing homes, and she realizes that the time has come for her to be living in one. Well, at least a retirement home, but she does want eventual nursing care to be part of the package, "just in case."
I realize that my mom will probably never be extracted from that house without ENORMOUS efforts, but I've warned her repeatedly that the first time she ends up in the hospital because she's fallen and broken something, she'll be discharged into whatever nursing or rehab hospital has a bed, and that absolutely terrifies her. She has visited enough of her friends who have ended up in horrible facilities, that she's getting motivated to make plans for herself. I keep reminding her: "Take action now, or you won't have any choices, and if the nearest vacant rehab bed is 2 hours away, don't expect me to visit you much."
So Mom and I have been making the rounds of "Continuing Care Communities" in the area. The places that require you to buy in (starting at .5 million) in addition to charging hefty monthly fees, are willing to wine and dine you. We've sat through many lectures and sales presentations made tolerable only by the incredible gourmet meals they've provided. The month-to-month places hand you a brochure and bottled water, and maybe give you lunch in the cafeteria after your tour.
One place that mom has been most interested in is a new construction that is almost ready to open. Last week I accompanied her on the "hard hat tour" of the immense facility.
Mom especially enjoyed riding 10 floors up in the elevator with the construction workers. It's been more than 34 years since mom had a date, but she gets her jollies whatever way she can these days.
The units are lovely, and the kitchens in these retirement apartments are larger that the one in my house. At some of the retirement communities we've toured, many units ARE larger that my ENTIRE house in which I am raising a family. Still, though, Mom looks at them and they look "too small" to her. She is so used to living in a huge house, even though she only uses a few rooms on one floor of it now, that she can't picture herself in a smaller place. It's gonna be a battle to get her downsized.
She moves slowly in all respects these days, and just gets slower all the time. This would be the ideal time for her to jump, while she's still healthy enough to enjoy the full amenities of such a community, and while I'm not working and have the hundreds of hours necessary to help her pare down 100 years worth of stuff (she absorbed all her mother's effects, which remain in boxes, unsorted). In another year or two I'll probably be working full time again, and I won't have enough vacation and sick leave to help her then. I continue to wait, and she continues to procrastinate, and every few weeks we partake of another meal (or bottle of water) while exploring the options, yet again.
Comments