Donald, I am telling you. Your youngster will beg you to move soon after he loses his marbles. Donald heard Mary repeat, “It is better to be proactive and find something else on your own before that happens, and your relationship suffers.” Ever since they began sipping tea on his son’s veranda, she had been discussing that topic. After suffering a heart attack upon returning home from the supermarket two months prior, Donald Harper’s house caught fire. After being brought to the hospital, he was determined to move with his son Peter and his wife once he healed. However, they were a thirtysomething marriage with three small children, and now they had to deal with an elderly man living with them.
For a while, Donald had been concerned that he might become a burden, but they claimed that they like having him around and that the grandchildren always enjoyed hearing his stories. However, Mary, Peter’s neighbor and someone about Donald’s age, had been arguing with him. “You believe Peter and his spouse are too courteous to suggest that I relocate?” With his right hand clasped over the teacup and taking a leisurely drink, Donald pondered. Mary nodded her head vigorously in agreement. “Obviously! I was only with my daughter for three weeks when it happened to me. She held me responsible for all the mishaps. She claimed that her electric bill had increased because I was too noisy in the mornings.
“My house was merely going to be fumigated, but I wanted to go back home,” she said. “Because of that, we have not spoken to one other in a while.” Humming, Donald nodded, considering the possibility that Mary might be correct. Given that they had nothing but positive things to say about Donald, it is clear that his son was far more courteous. Furthermore, he saw that Peter and Sandra, his wife, were returning home later and later every day.
Though he was glad to monitor the kids for them, he could not help but wonder if they were annoyed by his presence in their home. It might be time to move, he decided. When he returned home that evening, the older man grabbed his son aside and suggested putting him in a nursing home; Peter recommended they talk about it again later. “This is not the time for that, Dad.” We will discuss it further later. After a few months, Donald began to worry. Every time they arrived home, Peter and his wife appeared worn out, despite their constant smiles for him. It was time to try again; he had not brought up the matter of the nursing home.
It would not be too bad; he had enough savings to cover the cost of a respectable assisted-living facility. He had even searched for locations online, and he found one a short distance from Peter’s house in their community in Chesapeake, Virginia. He was prepared to present the material after printing it out.