It’s 10 P.M., Do You Know Where Your Parents Are?
Every time I see the commercial reminding parents to check on their teens, I think of my mother. That’s was my reminder to give her the last call of the night—to make sure she was safe and ready for bed.
As my mother’s only daughter and primary caregiver (www.caregiver.org) (she had Parkinson’s) (www.parkinsons.org/ ), I learned to manage the mosaic of care providers I had arranged for my mom’s care: A neighbor teen to cut her grass, church members who took her to services on Sundays and brought her meals during the week, and a dear cousin who would clean her house once a week. I took care of all of her doctor appointments, family gatherings, and the myriad of little things that popped up. We surrounded my mom with a village of care and that’s how I managed to keep her home for several years. But it didn’t last forever.
Like many Americans, my husband was transferred and we had to make a decision. As a long distance caregiver, (www.nia.nih.gov/…/Publications/LongDistanceCaregiving/) I knew all I would do was worry, worry, worry. So we became a sandwich generation household (www.thesandwichgeneration.com/ )—me (and my husband) in the middle, my mom on one end, my teen daughters on the other. Not easy, but worth it. At ten p.m., I had several family members to check on, but at least we were all under one roof. Only then, could I go to sleep and know we were all safe for the night.
If you choose to bring an mobility challenged adult into your home, you’ll have many new things to think about which your family currently takes for granted – Outside walkways, stairs, difficult chairs, bathtubs, car access, and much more.
The helpful people at Living Free Home can help. Look through the links above and feel free to call us at 888-54-LIVING as you plan how to make a home safe for someone you’re caring for. We have chair lifts, stair lifts, outside and inside wheelchair ramps, elderly bathtub solutions, and hundreds of other solutions to help secure a home for safer living.
