Moving to HealthCare

It's been a challenging two (plus) months and Friday marked the beginning of our "new normal" for Mom. We moved her out of The Hampton and into a HealthCare room at Holly Hall, where she will make her permanent home.

During her time in "rehab", we had spent two full days going through their things and organizing them into categories - getting ready to pare down Mom's belongings for the move to a smaller room. Although easier this time, we had many flashbacks to "The Nightmare on Blackburn Street" in 2008.

Going to their apartment in Assisted Living was sad, in a way, because Dad is no longer there and it illustrates how, as we age, our worlds get smaller and smaller. In the prime of your life, you're working and have friends and you're cruising around in your car and you're travelling to interesting places. You never stop to think that at some point in your future your world will be one room.

A parting shot of Dad's chair, bought for him when they moved to Holly Hall and being left behind, along with his things, because he doesn't need them any longer.



One last look at their living room before wheeling our cart of "left-overs" to the car.



As we left AL #130 behind, we finally had Mom set up in her new location - HC #312. View from the door, where you will be greeted by a purple Halloween cat.



Ramona kindly made arrangements for Mom to have a larger room and we were happy to see that the walls were a nice shade of gray, instead of the institutional off-white they normally are. We found places for much of the art and nick-knacks to make the new place feel more "homey".



View of the living area with love seat ...



View of the living area and new 40" flat panel TV, paid for in large part by a hidden roll of Dad's money we unearthed in a drawer!



Looking back towards the door ...



I shot this photo of the closet for entertainment value - it will never look this good again, so I'm happy to have it recorded in digital pixels!



Closer view of Mom - remote in hand - and the living area.



We've got a long way to go before she's happy in her new surroundings - actually, we have a long way to go before she even ACCEPTS her new surroundings. WE know that it is a blessing for her to be in this room in a facility as nice as Holly Hall, even if she does not.