I was never going to send my parents to a nursing home. Only spoiled kids–ones who’d grown up–did that to their folks. That was my belief. I lived with that belief – right up until the night I dropped by grandpa and grandma’s house with their precious grandchild (my daughter) to find my dad sitting on the floor. He had a hazy expression on his face–he looked distracted but not serious hurt or in pain. Turns out though, He was right in the middle of experiencing a massive stroke while my mother lay fast asleep upstairs. Within three years they would both be dead, and they would both die in the hospice wing of a local nursing home care facility. Of all my life’s unthinkable plot-twists, this seemed the least likely, but there I was: the grown-up child of two parents in a nursing home. It happened to me and it could happen to you.
The truth is that they got better care in the home than I would’ve been able to provide. That was what the decision came down to. It was a hard decision, but I think I made the right choice. And you may have to make that choice some day to. Before you do you should know all of the facts.