Have to agree with that assessment,I've got a tangle of the stuff wound around a stick that was outside up until near first frost. Since coming inside,it's put on about a yard of growth on one of it's vines. It's sneaking up on the lamp. I keep it above 70 degrees in my room.

Scotland is so right... you need to start asking every question, and investigating every facility within reasonable distance to you. Just because someone is old, and has either mental or physical weaknesses, does NOT mean that the next step is a nursing home. I wish that we, as a culture, could start appreciating the whole picture. Life is a progression and needs to be seen as such. I think this sounds like a very good introduction for your parents to an independant/assisted living facility. You do need to talk to as many people as possible. Ask what happens if type of questions. Imagine that your Mother has a bad fall, or Dad has increasingly bad cognitive problems. WHat happens then? How would this facility help if either had major surgery and was dismissed to go back home, i.e. not into a rehab or nursing facility? The staff should be good at helping you gather info, and don't be afraid to wander the halways and start a firendly chat with people you meet. I found that a simple walk down that hall at Mother's place would take me far longer than I expected because if I met anyone, they wanted to talk usually. Try to talk to the children of the residents if possible. Talk talk talk. You'll learn a lot. I think it's great that they are actively considering this move. Grab onto that, encourage it, and yes, ask quesions. of everyone. No one goes straight into a nursing home without traumatic health problems or seriously bad AD or other mental frailties. Life is a progression. If by moving them into an apartment in this place means that you can encourage them to de-clutter their home, to gift some items, to pare down a little... that's another good aspect. I had to clear out Mother's apartment after she passed away, and I was so relieved to know that she had cleaned out so much after several moves. This is an opportunity for your parents to get their estate in order, too. It may or may not be a great large estate, but it still needs to be evaluated by their attorney, wills and trusts and advanced directives all re-examined. Keep going along this road---this is very very positive. Now that Mother is gone, a part of my mourning is missing all the people who were her neighbors. So tomorrow, I'm taking one of Mother's old friends out to lunch and a movie. (Her choice of movie---Brokeback Mountain, and she's a retired nun! This should lead to interesting discussions. But she's one of the most with-it people I've ever known, so it should be good.)

Corgimum, the service was fantastic! Unfortunately husband ended up in the ER there shortly after we arrived due to his ticker. However, for the first time ever they brought him back in rhythm with some sort of Mexican ckt drug. We had such good care! Never ever has drugs worked in the states to bring him back around he always needs a cardio version (sp?). We carefully enjoyed the rest of our vacation and husband was so happy not to make any decisions. He has since had an operation to fix his problem and so far so good. We did take out the extra insurance before that trip and was reimbursed. That worked so well I will never travel to another country again without it. Joanie, just do it! Life is short! When my kids were young we could only afford one big trip the whole time to France and England and some mid trips to the Carolinas and mid west. The trips they enjoyed the most though were trips to the Florida Keys on the Gulf side. Those trips were just a few hours south for us though. And I have to say that they were not as much fun for husband who worked so much and had to do the long drive and then go to a NON all inclusive where decisions on where to eat and how to amuse the children were nonstop. Once the kids were grownâ¦we have been doing some traveling as itâÂÂs a piece of cake with two.

There was a very good article in our travel section of the newspaper today about a place at Fort Meyers, Florida. It was Sanibel Island. I don't know where you live but anyone with children would love it there. If you live near there it's very inexpensive and geared towards children. Here is a link that might be useful: Sanibel Island