elder care

Yesterday hubby returned after a five-day jaunt to Kelowna, where he and his siblings moved his parents. Here is the adventure, told in his own words ( from an email he wrote to the kids - and used with his permission):

We got Grandma and Grandpa moved on Saturday. I picked them up in the morning and took them to Uncle Roy and Aunt Sally’s for the day. Then I went back to their old place to join the rest of the moving crew: Arnold and Daphne, Marilyn, Calvin, Alex, Devon, and Orrin.

Cal arrived with the boys and the "Ryder" truck. We also used Arn & Daph's personal vehicles plus another of Arn's company vans - seeing as we were only moving to Westbank, we did not pack like movers would.

To make a long story short, by 7:30 PM we had their new one-bedroom suite at L-Manor all furnished like they lived there for a long time; pictures on walls; Grandpa’s desk in the den/pantry with university degrees and other plaques on the wall. Two pies were baked and we had a "housewarming" with pie and ice cream and coffee - Uncle Roy and Aunt Sally and Katya joined the rest of us - 13 in
all.

Grandma and Grandpa were somewhat confused as usual - I stayed the night, the first night on the couch - that's another story which I'll not go into.

So now these dear ones are in the care of nurses and aides who will dispense their pills, call them to meals and generally make sure they’re okay. Hopefully they’ll adjust quickly and realize that now this is home.

My mom is doing well after her move November 1st. On Friday afternoon she invited me to be part of the Christmas party, where we sat around eating pastries, drinking coffee and listening to Christmas music played by a jazz duo - piano and bass. Santa even came to call. She has been participating in the activities offered in her complex, going on tours, last week to see a creche display, a couple of nights ago to see the Christmas lights, and tomorrow to some deal in Cloverdale. This morning she even went to the exercise class!