Sometimes, when the unexpected happens, caring for a loved one becomes necessary. Caring for them from afar, though difficult can be done with diligence and care. I attempted to care for my mom from 9 hours away until her health and living situation made it more difficult.
Initially, it was tried as a shared responsibility with my siblings, however, it proved to not be a working solution. We did spend long weekends, or rather 2 travel days and 2 days taking care of issues, repairing the home, going through no longer needed belongings and so on.
It caused great stress to her, being on her own all the time. She could no longer maintain the home, pay bills, attend appointments and mange to shop easily. At one point an in-home nurse oversaw her care (temporarily) and social services was called in to access the situation and capability of living alone. The nurse, the social worker, friends (who helped care for mom) and her long time physician encouraged mom to relocate to be nearer to friends or myself.
The decision was made to move to Virginia, nearer to us. Some out of town friends visited and helped her liquidate a large amount of Dad’s items. After that from Virginia, with lots of direction, we were able to help her sell off a car, a home and many belongings, and close out the only life she had known.
So how was your Easter?
It took a long Holiday weekend, much coordination, some hotel stays, my sister, her husband and one of our ‘adopted’ children using his day off to help us get things moved into a moving truck. Fortunately with a lot of coordination we were able to quickly get all the items headed South loaded on the truck and readied for us to get on the road. A relaxing night in a hotel before we hit the road again to arrive and unload all belongings. After arriving, Mom was able to check out her apartment and relax for a moment. Than with the help of our son and his now wife we were able to unload her belongings and start the process of getting her settled.
Seeing the new apartment for the first time and the start of a new life at 70 was stressful, terrifying but exciting all at the same time.
Settling in…
We were quickly able to get her belongings settled into a general location. After a big life changing weekend Mom was left to adjust and settle in for a day or two. Than the process of meeting new friends, obtaining groceries began. It took a few months to settle in completely, find a rhythm and start making new friends.
Resources:
Penske The only moving truck company that was open over the weekend in both locations.
Another option would be to try Budget, they had the best pricing but we were not able to obtain the truck in the window of times we needed to pick up.