Debi again -

Sorry, forgot to address your mom's moving issue. My brain is fried right now.

I am so sorry that your mother is having to give-up her house. My grandmother was the same way. She loved her house and refused to move. She held onto hers for what was probably waaayyyy too long. She didn't drive so she was essentially isolated. My mother, me, and a couple of cousins would each go by once a week, but she was really a people person and needed more face to face contact that what she was getting. She had a dx of early onset Alzheimer's, but I think that her being isolated for so long made her disease a lot worse, and it progressed fast. She ultimately had a stroke which was the last straw for my mother. Moved her in with my sister (who lives close to my mom) and we found a really cool adult day center for people with "memory issues" that she could go to during the day so my sister could have some respite.

What was initially lemons turned into lemonade for my grandmother because she LOVED the adult day center, and they loved her! She was on the cover of our local electric co-op's newsletter as the co-op had donated money for badges that sounded an alarm if one of the clients accidentally wandered off the grounds. The place was so neat - they had all sorts of activities, games, senior exercises. Her favorites were the Roaring Twenties Day and the Mixed-up Clothing Day (the clients all worse loud colors that didn't go together and mis-matched socks, funky hats, and silly sunglasses.) She met a lady there and they were both convinced that they'd been friends since they were children. They held hands constantly and were inseparable.

It was pretty affordable. Medicare covered a large part of the expense, and I think she was only out $300 a month. Well worth the cost, if you ask me.

You are so kind to build onto your house and care for your mother. Wish more people were like you. I used to work in nursing homes and it was so sad when people would dump their parents there and forget about them. Hopefully her being close to her house will help ease the pain while she is becoming accustomed to her new living quarters. Change is so hard for people that age, but she will eventually adjust.