I can’t be the only weird one that thinks about this stuff. What’s going to happen in your family when a loved one needs some form of elder care, like a nursing home? Is this something that you’ve already discussed?
I saw first-hand the stress and hassle that putting a loved one in a nursing home was for my grandmother. It ended up being the best option, but I can see now that it’s just GOT to be easier if the person’s wishes are known ahead of time and the funding is available. There are so many different options for care when someone is unable to care for themselves. Sometimes it’s not even safe for the person to be left alone without close supervision. It seems to me that some research should be done prior to a crisis to try and figure out a preliminary game plan!
All that said, I have not discussed this with my own parents. It becomes difficult when also thinking about the fact that the person in question often has a spouse or other people that love them and want to take care of them. These folks have to be in agreement as far as the best options.
I’m not sure what I’ll want for myself when I’m older. I would assume that if I needed to be in a nursing home, I would want to be in a place where I could keep my dignity and quality of life as close to life at home as possible. I’d want to have the freedom to see my loved ones whenever I wanted, but also know that if I needed help, there would be resources available to me fairly easily. I know my mind is all jumbled now as a busy mom of 3 – I can just imagine that I won’t be clear-thinking then and might get confused or overwhelmed trying to Google everything. 😉 (Will Google be around in 70 years?)
