Time with Mom and Chick

After a sweet, and always encouraging visit with Pat and Jean in their new home, we started to prepare for our visit with Mom and Chick.  Life was about to take a new turn for them.

We arrived the Tuesday before Easter, and enjoyed getting back to life in the adult community where they currently reside.  The pond near the clubhouse has a lovely fountain, a screened in sitting spot, a few alligators,  and some snakes that slither around.  A hot tub near the pool also gives us an evening soak which is a nice treat.

What we soon would learn was that Chick was required to surrender his driver's license. Mom hadn't driven for several years due to symptoms of glaucoma, so all of a sudden here goes independence and the ability to do what needs to be done for independent life.  No more shopping trips, doctor's appointments and even lunch at Wendy's without hiring someone or accessing senior services.

They are both amazing, and happily have been able to live as they have wanted for over ninety years.  So here goes another steep learning curve for all of us.

Questions we started to deal with:  What about the car and the signed lease? Will they take it back?  Do they need a new place to live and what will be helpful?  Is it time for Assisted Living?  What can they afford? Will a new place take the cat? Can we find a place in the Villages which would allow golf cart transportation? What are the other options for transportation?  How about home health care?  What about veteran benefits and other health insurance policies? And in all of it, what is comfortable for them?

I feel like I can honestly report that we are working well together so far, and that Mom and Chick are able to say what they feel okay about and what not.  Each day we make some progress. We have also been building a relationship with his son and wife that is very helpful for us all.

Latona and I go for a daily visit to our state park that is only a few miles away and get in a 1-2 mile walk and have a chance to confront some new wildlife adventure.

WE love the Live Oaks and the Spanish Moss in the wind

Part of the pathway

Warmer weather is starting to bring out the snakes which we haven't seen here before. The turtle appeared to have been laying eggs judging by the loose dirt around her tail and back feet.








If all goes as we hope, and Mom and Chick are comfortable and safe, we plan to leave here in several weeks and will head to northern Ohio for a special warbler festival, and then on to Pennsylvania and New Jersey for visits with my siblings.  (Always fun times)

Thank you for your interest in our "doings" as well as the health of our "beings".

More to come ...   please keep sending good energy and helpful prayers for Mom and Chick as they negotiate the next steps of their journey.  I am grateful not only to have my mother for all of these almost seventy years of my life, but to have a mother with such courage, strength, and a stubborn will for a positive life.