Member-only story
Recovery Reading 12/03/24: Do the Next Right Thing
Acceptance and reframing unwanted change as an opportunity
I’ll be 64 on Decemer 8th, and I’m moving into a local nursing home on Tuesday, December 3rd. It’s going to take a while to sink in that I’ll be living there for the rest of my life. There’ll be no going home because it will be my home. I’ll die there.
Yes, I’ve had aides at home for the past 18 months I’ve been home. But they’re ony here 9 hours a day, so my mom — my best friend — has been my caregiver the other 15 hours a day. And believe me, it’s been a lot of work for her: buying me things I need from the store, food shopping and preparation, returning things sometimes, fetching things when I can’t get them, “dealing” with the aides, ie, having strangers in the house all her waking hours, and helping me with toileting (she’s a petite 87-year-old and I’m no lightweight)!
Add the fact that she’s had to deal with a couple of ER visits and hospitalizations for my heart condition (SVT) coupled with being a good mom — she worries and turns down outings with friends when an aide isn’t here because she doesn’t want me to be alone when she has to or wants to go out — -and it’s all been extremely stressful for her.
The house has become difficult for her to keep up since we lost our multi-talented handyperson a couple of years ago.
