Last week I spent some time with a prospective family.  Two adult children brought their parents in to have lunch at our community.  Within the first half hour of our encounter it became apparent to me that mom and dad were masking their short-term memory loss, and confusion about their situation. Our simple, cheerful conversation, with a witty joke or two tossed in from time to time, came full circle and revolved into the same pleasant conversation again with the same witty jokes inserted.  Though seemingly content, I began to imagine that this couple spent their endless days in their big old home having these same conversations, with not much new to stimulate their minds and challenge their memory skills.

The other child expressed to me a very different perspective.  She felt mom and dad were going to need help no matter what, whether it be with homecare coming in, or while living in an assisted living.  There was no question in her mind that they were ready for some higher level of help.  But what really sold her on the idea of her parents living at Methuen Village was the fact that they would be stimulated much more in our community than they would be at home with homecare services.  She said to me, “  I enjoy my life, i want them to enjoy theirs’.  Sure they can stay at home, but they are just existing there, I want to see them LIVING.”  This really resonated with me.  This is what she wanted for herself, and thus what she wanted for her parents to have as well- to not just be existing, but be truly living.