Mid Year Check In

I started 2019 with the mindset that this was going to be the best year ever!!! I had goals!! I had plans!! I knew I had work before me, but I was ready, willing and able to get this show on the road.

Then my mom fell and broke her femur. Alright, a stumbling block for sure. But I’ve got this. It’s only January, there’s still plenty of time for a great year and time to meet the goals I’ve set.

Mom did so well in rehab, that our family decided that now was the time to transition her into memory care. A lot of things needed to happen and I mean a lot of things. Mom receives her social security and a pension from her former employer. So we knew what we were working with. It was a simple but complicated plan. Move her into a memory care that was affordable but one we felt comfortable with. We found that fairly quickly thanks to one of the online services that will assist you in finding a place for mom.

Then the plan was to sell her house. The proceeds from that would help with her continued care into the future. Because we all know everything goes up! Right? My parents bought that house in 1963. So you can imagine the “stuff” and memories that was packed into it. Selling that house took a lot out of me emotionally and spiritually. It brought up issues that I had locked away in my head for decades. I’m still working through those emotions with a professional. It’s a process I just started and I’m not sure how long it takes to make peace with myself and others. But I’m in it for the long haul.

Mom’s transition into memory care was hard emotionally on all of us. Except mom of course. She lives in the moment. But we, her family, are looking towards the future. During the month of June she was hospitalized with a TIA. At least that’s their best guess. But it was the catalyst that brought us where we are today, at this moment. Finding another place for mom.

I know that no place is probably going to be perfect, but things have happened that we can no longer overlook. Thankfully, we can look for something beyond her monthly income. Hopefully a place where we feel she is safe again. A place that will enrich these final years of her life. As a family we don’t want her warehoused away. She was a vibrant, loyal, loving daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend. I know that she would do all that was necessary to see that her loved one was taken care of to the very best of her ability. And that it what we hope to provide for her.

But in the meantime, my plans for the year have been set on the back burner. Sort of like the eggs you boil for Easter. You have great plans for those eggs, but they have to wait until the main meal is well on it’s way to being prepared. And that’s the great idea about “plans”. The best–laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

So my plans may have changed. My priorities may have change. My family dynamics may have change. But my goals and dreams have not changed. So at the beginning of July, I still say “It’s going to be a GREAT year!!!”