I have helped many families move through necessary transitions as the time is reached when it is no longer possible for a senior to continue living in their own home. For my own family, this turning point was reached for my dear ninety year old mum this past weekend. She gratefully has four daughters who are able to work closely together and we have supported mum in remaining in the home she has lived in for fifty-six years. Her increasing blindness due to glaucoma was making her home environment very unsafe.
We started the process of the move to an assisted living residence after a badly burned hand from the stove, with much resistance from mum. My sister and I stayed with her over a four day period, allowing her to move through many emotions, while at the same time we were moving through ours. All of us were experiencing the letting go. Patience, gentleness, clarity of purpose and the steady presence of our love took priority over everything else. Mum came to accept and then actually be grateful of our help in making this challenging change in her life. We watched as the fear that she had been living under began lifting from her face.
I learned that all things are possible when you believe. Believing that the time is right, believing that you are doing the very best for the mum that gave you everything and believing that by working together things happen that you could never manage alone. Yes, it was all a bit of a miracle.
Marjorie Horne
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