Sunday, February 22, 2009

Dealing with Grandpa

Well, we've been really busy these days trying to sort out grandpa's life. It has now gotten to the point that he can no longer live safely on his own. We thought about bringing him into our home and that was the working plan for awhile. Now we as a family have realized that that is not a viable option. If grandpa lived here he'd have to be under 24 hour supervision. We can't pull that off even with some help, and as our lives change it would be increasingly difficult.
Now, the working plan is to get him moved up to Brookings, 30 miles away, in order to get him into a facility with a dementia and alzheimers unit. This is going to be a HUGE adjustment for him, and we're pretty sure he's not going to like it one bit. He's probably going to go kicking and screaming. Right now we have Lonnie's uncle Mike and aunt Deanna here to help us sort out all the legal aspects because Mike has power of attorney. They are going to have the first conversation with him tomorrow about needing to move out, and hopefully all the other pieces will fall into place and he can be in the facility in the next few weeks.
The question after he goes in the home is where this leaves us. Well, we don't know exactly. We currently don't have an exit strategy to get out of Crescent City. I really enjoy my job at the hospital and we've grown to like it here. So for the foreable future (or at least until God leads us otherwise) we're staying here. It's hard because part of us is drawn back to Portland, but this has become home. Lonnie's parents are moving back to the states in April and hope to get to CC by late June. If they can find jobs then they will try and stay here, if not they have to go where the jobs are. We will still have to do stuff with and for grandpa while we're here, including coordinating rides too and from church, and getting the items that he needs.
We know that God put us here for a reason and he clearly made all the pieces fall into place to make that move happen. So until the time he shows us that it's alright or that he wants us somewhere else then we'll stay for the time being. C'est la vie

1 comment:

Eliza said...

Hey Beth corn pone!
I recently went through a similar situation with my grandfather. It's hard, but I highly respect you taking care of him. It's a tough situation with no great answers; for him and for you both.