Follow-Up On Settling My Parents Into Assisted Living

Lately, I keep running into people who say, “I haven’t checked into your blog this week but I’m wondering how things are going with your parents?”
These are questions that make me happy because I’m thrilled to know that people read my blog and feel the desire to catch up with what’s going on. Also, this life stage with my parents seems to resonate with so many of my friends and readers. So many people have dealt with, or are dealing with, this stage in life where you’ve finally gotten your college-age kids out the door (or maybe they are still sleeping on your couch) and now you’re dealing with the care of your parents. It has probably always occurred this way, throughout history, although this generation is new to the concept of assisted living homes and how we factor them into the equation.

I want to let you know that my parents are doing really great. (This photo was taken of them last August, before the decision was made to move to assisted living.) My mom seems very happy and content and my dad has a lighter tone on the telephone than I have heard in years. I called the other day and he said, “I can’t talk now, I have to go to boot camp!” I laughed and told him I would call him later when he wasn’t busy, which these days, is not very often. He and my mom have developed a routine of gourmet eating in the dining hall, (“We had duck! Can you imagine they served us duck?!”), listening in on lectures and classes, exercise sessions and social visits with other residents as they get to know who is who there. Last night there was a revue of several Laurel and Hardy movies. My dad wanted to get down to the dining room extra early so he could get a good seat in the theater afterwards. Laurel and Hardy have always been some of his favorite old movie stars and for a time, he was a member of the Sons of The Desert, a Shriner style organization that mimicked the fraternal lodge portrayed in the L&H movie of the same name. I’m thrilled that they have entertainment programming that gets them excited now.

Read the complete article here...>