Website design By BotEap.comI didn’t know how much my mom had deteriorated until my dad went to the hospital. Mom had seemed forgetful for a while, but when Dad was suddenly hospitalized one night, I knew Mom’s problem was more than just a little forgetfulness. I came down to stay with her and for the first week daddy was sick, I thought she was sad and exhausted because he wasn’t around her. However, when she passed away the following week, I learned that she had been trusting my dad to remember everything for years, even for little things like whether she remembered to put the groceries away and whether he had his glasses on.

Website design By BotEap.comMy siblings aren’t the most reliable couple, so it became my responsibility to organize everything for my dad’s funeral, manage his estate, and take care of my mom. I thought about moving her into my house, but I couldn’t be home all day to take care of her. She would often forget that she couldn’t remember things and I was afraid she would turn on the tub and forget, or even something worse like a gas burner on the stove. I have to admit that I am also not an expert in senior care who can take care of all your needs. As much as I didn’t like the idea, it was time to find a retirement home for my mom. Of course, my brothers couldn’t be counted on to help with that either.

Website design By BotEap.comI wasn’t sure what kind of retirement home to put Mom in. The last experience I had with one had been decades before, when my husband’s great-aunt lived in a terribly dilapidated nursing home. I knew that this was not the kind of place I wanted for my mom. Other than that, however, he didn’t know what he was looking for.

Website design By BotEap.comAfter doing some research online, I found that there were many different types of retirement homes, but that didn’t tell me which one was the best option for my mother. With everything that happened after my dad died, I just didn’t have time to visit a bunch of different facilities and talk to all the people, so the next time I took mom to a doctor’s appointment, I asked the nurse if she had a few minutes to spare to tell me about nursing homes.

Website design By BotEap.comFortunately, the nurse knew my mom and knew exactly what was needed. After a brief conversation that lasted only a few minutes, I learned that my mother needed an assisted living facility. The nurse told me that with assisted living, a trained senior care staff would take care of my mother’s daily tasks and make sure she didn’t forget anything important.

Website design By BotEap.comWith that information, I was able to reconnect and find assisted living facilities in my city. The one that intrigued me the most said it was both an independent living facility and an assisted living facility. After a brief phone call to the location, I scheduled a visit with the director of the retirement home.

Website design By BotEap.comThe director gave me a tour and told me all about how they handle their assisted living residents. My mom thought it was a great deal because she said that senior care staff only help residents with things that residents really need help with. For everything else, they let the residents have the freedom to live alone. She also told me that the senior care staff continuously monitors the situations of assisted living residents and offers more assistance when residents deteriorate further.

Website design By BotEap.comOf course, I had to ask what the residents did during the day. I didn’t want my mom to be bored sitting in a room all day like my husband’s great-aunt was. The manager showed me many different rooms with old people doing all sorts of things. At first I was nervous because he would show me things I knew my mom wouldn’t like very much, like pool and bowling. But when he showed me around the cooking class, I knew he had found the perfect retirement home for my mom.

Website design By BotEap.comI wish I never had to put my mom on assisted living. When forgetfulness of her got worse and turned into full-blown Alzheimer’s, I was glad I did and equally glad I chose the right assisted living facility for her with the right senior care staff. However, how the staff helped Mom overcome that terrible illness is a story for another day.