Telling Mom to Move Out of Her Home

How do I tell my mother she can’t live in her home anymore? A home she’s lived in for over 20 years. A home she imagined living in until the day she passed.

It was a very difficult discussion. But after she fell 3 times in 6 months, with two of those times requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital, it was a little easier for her to accept reality. A little.

And then there’s the matter of money. There is no place she can afford with her only income as social security. So how long can she live in a senior home before she spends all of her money from her savings and the sale of her home? A home sale that’s now happening during one of the weakest selling markets in many years.

Nevertheless, we persevered with the inevitable. A new reality that over the course of a few weeks, my mom began to accept.

The conversation began with talking about moving her into a care home. Initially, she insisted on a one bedroom with a living room, because she couldn’t understand how to live in a studio. After all, she’s been in a 1250 square foot, 2 bedroom house for the last 22 years, so of course it’s hard to imagine living in just one room. But once she saw the prices, she came around to the idea of living in a studio. Thank goodness! 

Then we had to tell her this move was going to happen much sooner than she expected. We were offered an amazing deal on a place just a few miles away from our house. It was newly renovated, with lots of activities for her to (hopefully) enjoy and make new friends. The catch was that her room was a long walk to the far side of the building, but I think that extra walking will be good for her. It’s really her primary form of exercise.

We were impressed this small studio had a fairly large bathroom with plenty of room for her walker, and a good size kitchenette with refrigerator and microwave included! They also cover all of her utilities, including basic cable and wifi. So not too shabby. Of course, she still has to figure how to work the television remotes, but she’s learning! 😉

Mom has been in her new home for almost two weeks now, and she’s already making friends while enjoying having delicious meals made for her. She still has a few complaints here and there, but that’s to be expected after going through this sudden, big change.

Now we have to work on selling her home and everything inside it. Ugh!! But so far, we have been blessed throughout all these changes, and I’m hopeful those blessings will continue as we transition mom into this new season in her life.

I encourage all of you to give an extra hug to your loved ones this holiday season. You just never know when things may suddenly change.

Take care. ❤️