Finding Safety

We live in a house with a LOT of stairs.  Mom and Dad (Becky and Jay)  built an addition onto their home in 2002, to make it their dream home.  Since then they have lived....up a lot of stairs.

The original part of the home is all on one level.  A perfect place to grow old.  This is where we cared for Great Grandma Bebe, and Grandma and Grandpa Crowther. 

Of course, Dave and I have been living in that part of the home for 3 years now. Growing old (er), but not really.

We knew at some point that mom would need that part of the home, but hoped to put it off for a long while.  The stairs have been so good for her.  After all, physically she's been doing great.  Up and down the stairs several times a day has helped keep her moving, and I always thought it was a great brain activity.  According to my "cross-brain" research; but I'm werrd that way.

Until she started to scare us!  Hanging over the top of the stairs like she was going to topple over while she grasped for the handrail, tripping on her way down, and even peeking around the corner waiting for someone to take her hand so she felt safe coming down.  We knew it was time.

Everything went smoothly in our heads.  But in reality, moving stuff is long and hard.  We are so grateful for Mom's friend from Comfort Keepers, Vicki, who helped her find comfort while we rocked her world.  Within 2 days we had her settled in a new family room, complete with her favorite chairs, pictures, and music.

*Flashback*  "Jennah, will you grab the other side of this couch?"  "Sure," I say as I drop my backpack, just having walked in the door from school.  "Where is it going this time?"

True story!  Mom changed the furniture around the house about as often as she decorated, which was at least seasonally.  If it wasn't the main living furniture, it was one of our bedrooms.  Her mind was always so active and thinking of the next best way to organize her life, and make it better for everyone.

She still wanders up the stairs, crying as she looks around at the now unfamiliar.  Going up usually isn't a problem, it's the getting down that worries us.  We welcome her as she sits and watches us working, then try to comfort as she cries a little more. The plan is....as she feels more comfortable in her new surroundings, the stairs will happen less and less.  It's not without fault, but overall, I think we're making progress.  We just needed to give out a few extra hugs through the week to calm her agitated heart.

There's a catch to moving from one part of a home to another; years and years of collection....left for me to negotiate!  I hope my siblings don't mind that we removed 3 large garbage bags, 2 large DI (goodwill) bags, and stashed the rest in a closet for them to go through at a later date.  Don't worry, it'll be fun!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go work on the "unsettled" part of the house, to make it my own.

If my kids only knew the collection I've already started for them.