Your mom lived by the “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” philosophy. Mine too, Michele. They did nothing in anticipation of crossing the bridge. Arranging in-home help to manage things they could no longer do. Even just starting to sell or donate the piles of salvageable stuff in their house, and pitching the junk. Setting up the PofA. Consequently, though us kids made rough plans regarding what to do down the road, those plans had to be tossed when the parents’ situation suddenly went south. They both had to go into assisted living, and in anticipation of shifting to skilled nursing, which they did within two years.

I digress. Or rather, re-live, which I do too often. Point is, this is an excellent article. Well-written, practical advice for anyone who’s either going to be in your parents’ situation or assist such parents. Ya know, when I was helping my parents, I benefitted enormously from advice offered by friends who’d already been there. People who read this or hear your experiences will, too.