Dizzo update...
I think last time I mentioned my Mum and Dad here at my journal, I was close to my wits end with the whole situation regarding my Dad's health and the resulting stresses on my Mum. Well, it's fair to say the afore mentioned situation has moved on, and thankfully for the better!
Back in March, I went to visit my parents, and some pretty intense heart-to-heart convos were had. The upshot of these were that my parents had been doing a lot of talking and had decided to make a move into an assisted living accommodation.
Assisted living / independent living / retirement communities, whatever you want to call them, is the industry I work in, and for those of you not familiar with the concept, it's where someone over the age of 55 can choose to live. They will buy an accommodtion, usually an apartment, but some of the bigger villages (like the company I work for) can provide houses too, and the residents can live as independently as they like. The beauty of the arrangement is that they have the security of living in a community where there are trained people on hand to help them if necessary, and as they get older and more infirm, they can arrange to receive whatever care they need within their own home. It's a brilliant compromise between living completely independently and living with the protection, but also the restrictions, of a care home.
I was completely bowled over, because I never thought for one moment they'd consider that, but I was also so relieved. So then, the task of finding a suitable place started. At first, I thought I'd like them to come back over onto te mainland so that they'd be closer and more accessible to me, but that soon proved to be out of our price range, so they set their search to the Island and found a fabulous place called Green Meadows, less than a mile down the road from where they live now!
It's absolutely lovely, and brand new, it only opened in August last year. I never even considered it because I thought it was a care home, but it's not.
They went to see it and found a first floor flat they fell in love with, again - brand new. It's a lovely corner flat so it's got loads of windows, lots of natural light and really lovely views.
So then the task of selling their place came. We were all working on a six to eight month plan; you know, a few weeks to sell their place then all the legal, boring house selling admin stuff, then we could look at getting them in situ around Christmas/new year.
Their house went on the market on 9th April. It sold on 14th April... O.o
YIKES!!!!!!
So now we're looking at a Summer move! And there's lots of work and sorting out associated with downsizing going on (Mum is driving Dad nuts!!!)
But I can't wait for them to move in and for Dad to finally have the support and protection that he needs, and at the same time, Mum to have the support and respite that she needs.
I went last weekend to have a first look at their apartment and took this video. It's just perfect for them!
Back in March, I went to visit my parents, and some pretty intense heart-to-heart convos were had. The upshot of these were that my parents had been doing a lot of talking and had decided to make a move into an assisted living accommodation.
Assisted living / independent living / retirement communities, whatever you want to call them, is the industry I work in, and for those of you not familiar with the concept, it's where someone over the age of 55 can choose to live. They will buy an accommodtion, usually an apartment, but some of the bigger villages (like the company I work for) can provide houses too, and the residents can live as independently as they like. The beauty of the arrangement is that they have the security of living in a community where there are trained people on hand to help them if necessary, and as they get older and more infirm, they can arrange to receive whatever care they need within their own home. It's a brilliant compromise between living completely independently and living with the protection, but also the restrictions, of a care home.
I was completely bowled over, because I never thought for one moment they'd consider that, but I was also so relieved. So then, the task of finding a suitable place started. At first, I thought I'd like them to come back over onto te mainland so that they'd be closer and more accessible to me, but that soon proved to be out of our price range, so they set their search to the Island and found a fabulous place called Green Meadows, less than a mile down the road from where they live now!
It's absolutely lovely, and brand new, it only opened in August last year. I never even considered it because I thought it was a care home, but it's not.
They went to see it and found a first floor flat they fell in love with, again - brand new. It's a lovely corner flat so it's got loads of windows, lots of natural light and really lovely views.
So then the task of selling their place came. We were all working on a six to eight month plan; you know, a few weeks to sell their place then all the legal, boring house selling admin stuff, then we could look at getting them in situ around Christmas/new year.
Their house went on the market on 9th April. It sold on 14th April... O.o
YIKES!!!!!!
So now we're looking at a Summer move! And there's lots of work and sorting out associated with downsizing going on (Mum is driving Dad nuts!!!)
But I can't wait for them to move in and for Dad to finally have the support and protection that he needs, and at the same time, Mum to have the support and respite that she needs.
I went last weekend to have a first look at their apartment and took this video. It's just perfect for them!