One of the things I value about being part of Compass Plus is the sense of community. Through our regular Zoom meetings with agents from across the country, we share ideas, experiences, and resources as we help seniors navigate a wide variety of life transitions.
In a recent meeting, Wendy Moore from Los Angeles, shared a personal story about her mother, a New York City resident, who decided to move to LA to be near Wendy. But (almost immediately if I recall the story correctly), she decided to move back saying how much she missed New York City. Wendy told this story just as I was preparing my parents for their boomerang move and it made me feel less alone. I could also appreciate that my situation is more manageable: from one part of the state to another rather than from one coast to another.
But both situations are understandable. A big move to a whole new area is a dramatic change and might seem like a better idea in our imagination than the reality.
As expected, June was busy! With a game plan to move my parents back to their home, I put together a very detailed task list. It took a couple of weeks to get everything in place, but I was able to coordinate from afar. I hired a carpet guy to come in and stretch the carpet (to eliminate the tripping hazard), and a handyman set up the bed in what used to be the dining area of the house to create single story living. An occupational therapist provided a list of items for us to install, including a ramp for the front steps. He sent me an Amazon link for this ramp, which was incredibly helpful… two clicks and two days and the ramp was delivered and installed.
The trickiest part was finding caregivers, and I feel incredibly lucky to have found Cheryl and Emily, two amazingly kind-hearted, incredibly patient women. On Saturday, Sunday, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Cheryl arrives at noon and fixes a big meal for my parents, helps my dad with some exercise exercises, administers the meds, does some light cleaning, and preps dinner before she leaves at 4pm. And on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Emily does the same.
It’s only four hours a day, which the occupational therapist does not think is enough, but which my parents think is far too long. They desperately want the house to themselves and for things to be back the way they used to be. BUT they have agreed (after many many many conversations) to give the current schedule a try for 30 days. I have a reprieve until July 30.
To say that they are still getting settled in is an understatement. The biggest issue was getting the TV working. It’s unbelievable how hard this was to accomplish. The TV was moved back in, the components all got hooked back up, so I called this and asked to have the service from six months ago reinstated. After a circular conversation where they wanted my Social Security number and said we would need to start a new service if I didn’t know the secret code to the old service, I hung up.
We are all avid Tennis enthusiasts in this family, and over the weekend when I realized Wimbledon would be starting on Monday, the TV issue became urgent.
On Sunday we had four different phone calls on the phone with Dish, clocking over three hours. This included a nonsense conversation about how you can’t use the equipment you already own because it’s attached to your old account which we can’t move to this account unless you know the secret password from your old account.
Seriously.
Finally, I threw up my hands and agreed that the technician should come out on July 1 with new equipment.
The happy ending is that my parents have TV. WHEW. And they have wonderful caregivers that I appreciate (even if they don’t) and incredible Home Health resources. Pictured below: Emily after serving an amazing meal, and Charleston the OT working out with my dad. Happy July!
