I am moving

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. How wonderful!

I expect I'll eventually be in some sort of similar place. Right now I'm 72, in excellent health, and can manage my small two-bedroom, two bath, two skylight place for the present.

Several times in the past I've visited independent/assisted living places on behalf of someone else, and have almost always been very impressed with what's offered. Not always, but enough to make me feel confident moving forward that I'll be able to eventually settle into some sort of place for myself.

I've seen far too many stories of parents or grandparents insisting on staying in a place they can no longer maintain or manage, and are sometimes a long way from the services they desperately need. I'm determined not to let that happen to me.

My one son lives about 2,000 miles from me. He's in grad school, and when he's finally finished and has a permanent job, I will probably relocate to be a lot closer to him. For one thing, I simply want to be able to see him regularly. The other, semi-joking reason is that I want to make it easy for him to come to my nursing home and sign the DNR orders.

I recall what it was like when my mother was in what turned out to be her final illness, and how tricky it was to manage things. And I had five other siblings to help out. But that experience has left me determined to make it easy for my son.

Perhaps what I should have said at the top, is that every story I've seen or heard about going into some kind of place like yours, is that the people almost always regret only that they didn't go there sooner. I'm trying to figure out the correct balance for me in that aspect.