Glenn and I have had our hands full the last few (perhaps 6) months. His mother decided she really, really had to live on her own again. So, we moved her from assisted living to her own apartment...against our better judgment.
We knew in our hearts and minds that this would not be a good move. She went from being cared for completely, which included all laundry services, full dining room, housekeeping, socialization and group activities, along with medical alert care.
Once she moved to her apartment, within 3 weeks she ended up in the hospital and things went downhill from there. Multiple hospital stays, sometimes with only a week or few days between, a brief nursing home stay and, finally, hospice at her apartment.
She died this last Thursday about 8 p.m. The hospice nurses had just administered her medication and, a few minutes later, she slipped away in her sleep.
We buried her yesterday afternoon. It was a bright, sunny day and made the ceremony less mournful.
A friend of Glenn's daughter hosted a large dinner after where everyone talked, laughed and shared stories of "Grandma," as she was usually called.
There were boxes and albums of photos that made us all laugh with surprise or see how the grandchildren resembled their predecessors.
All in all, it was a day of celebration and all of us know she's without discomfort and in a better place.
We knew in our hearts and minds that this would not be a good move. She went from being cared for completely, which included all laundry services, full dining room, housekeeping, socialization and group activities, along with medical alert care.
Once she moved to her apartment, within 3 weeks she ended up in the hospital and things went downhill from there. Multiple hospital stays, sometimes with only a week or few days between, a brief nursing home stay and, finally, hospice at her apartment.
She died this last Thursday about 8 p.m. The hospice nurses had just administered her medication and, a few minutes later, she slipped away in her sleep.
We buried her yesterday afternoon. It was a bright, sunny day and made the ceremony less mournful.
A friend of Glenn's daughter hosted a large dinner after where everyone talked, laughed and shared stories of "Grandma," as she was usually called.
There were boxes and albums of photos that made us all laugh with surprise or see how the grandchildren resembled their predecessors.
All in all, it was a day of celebration and all of us know she's without discomfort and in a better place.
). Nice as it is for Himself to be living close to his only sibling, I want us to be living back near our kids. When we start falling apart, they're in better shape to take care of us! 
