A Caregiver's Story in Terrell Hills, TX: Mom Wants to Stay Close to Friends, I Want Her Here – What Assisted Living is Right?
Just a few years ago, if someone would have told me that I’d been trying to help my other find an assisted living community for her, I would have told them that they were crazy. My mother had been a strong and vibrant woman and her and my father would travel extensively through the years. A sudden, massive myocardial infarction changed all that one Saturday afternoon while they were both outside enjoying the weather. Two years later, my mother has been struggling with some basic needs within her home and she finally agreed to consider moving into an assisted living facility.
That’s when the problems started. I thought that she would be against the notion of assisted living, or a personal care home, but the moment that I brought it up she said that it was something she’d been thinking about for some time, but she didn’t want to mention it; she thought I would be upset or tell her that she couldn’t afford it. In truth, my father planned for their future well and she was more than able to afford the best assisted living in the area.
The problem is that my mother wants to stay close to where she is, which is more than three hours from me by car, on a good day. Most days are not good days, with traffic construction, work, and other scheduling conflicts. I want to be able to support her and I worry that once she moves into an assisted living facility she’s going to be lonely.
She claims that she has a lot of friends still in the area, and a number who live in different facilities throughout the area. I don’t see the reality of her visiting with them, or them spending much time to come and see her. I thought she would want to be closer to me so that she could be closer to her granddaughters, her daughter-in-law, and the rest of her family.
I finally agreed to visit this one assisted living facility that she was interested in that was only about five miles from her home. I was surprised. They offer a variety of activities, residents and staff members seem friendly, they provide transportation services so she would be able to meet up with friends, and two of her closest friends were already living there.
In the end, I realized that my mother still wants to live. Why shouldn’t she get to choose where she lives? It’s really a no-brainer when you think about it. Assisted living is for her. I’ll just have to plan more trips to visit than I had in the past. That I can do!
For more information about Pipestone Place Assisted Living in Terrell Hills, TX or to take a tour, call today (210) 718-0211.
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