My Mother decided to go into an assisted living facility. She picked the one she liked and 6 weeks later she made the move. We are all thrilled. This facility is like a docked cruise ship. It is elegant, friendly, great food, lots of activities, and excursions. The average age at this center is 83. My Mother loves it and my sister and I are so relieved to have her some place safe, with-out stairs, and with as much interaction as she desires.
The facility reminds me of a college dorm. The exception is that everyone is in their 80’s. Other than that, the music is loud, people hang out in the common rooms, eat together in the dinning rooms, play games in the study and attend lectures. They have sign out sheets and sign up sheets, and some one is always losing their keys.
The biggest problem so far in the adjustment to assisted living is that my Mother is a clothes horse. She went from 5 closets to 2. She lives in New England which means there are seasonal clothes to rotate and store. We are so very fortunate that the biggest problem in adjusting to assisted living is closet space!
I am very fortunate to have my Mother still with me and at 87 years old enjoying this new part of her life. She made the decision herself that she wanted to go into assisted living. This is a huge obstacle to overcome. Of course we had been talking about this option for the last 2 years, but it was so much easier that this was her choice.