Aging Parent, Broken Hip, Schedules Interrupted

Flexibility when an aging parent's health event interrupts their children's lives--important.  We know. We also know there are only 24 hours in a day.  Squeezing things in and omitting and prioritizing take on new importance. This is my life at the moment.

I flew out to be with senior advisor R, my 97-year-old mother-in law, who has just spent day 45 in rehab.  "They" (whoever that is) say it takes 90 days before older people's hips have healed /mended or whatever enough to be able to put weight on the hip.  That means 45 more days at the rehab center and R is crossing off each one.

The physical therapy is excellent, which is the reason we selected this place. It is convenient to her home, several thousand miles from ours, but not from where we stay when we're here.  However, we must drive over an hour daily--which is the reason I just came out again.  My only-child husband has been doing that daily drive for three weeks (flying home  2 weekends); I can give him some time off.

And so I'm on my way to the rehab center--with a stop at the local library to post this.  This article, in Wednesday's NY Times, A Woman's Journey From an Artist's Barn To a Mansion's Wall          http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/nyregion/10cityroom.html is an interesting, enjoyable read that I want to share with you.  It features a woman of privilege and wealth and a centenarian of neither privilege nor wealth from what I gather, whose 64-year-old daughter (with whom she lives) accompanied her on an unusual trip back in time.

I wonder if living with her daughter (who possibly never married since she uses her mother's last name which is, of course, her "maiden" name) contributed to her reaching 100 years of age and seemingly aging so well.

Do go to my new site--  http://helpparentsagewell.com--same posts, but more information and carefully selected (by me) resources.