Sundowning and the Time Change: How to Prepare for Shorter Days
Around 4:30, the light turns gray, and your mother starts looking for her purse. She’s going home, she says. She has lived in this house for thirty-one years. If you’ve watched this happen, you know how fast an easy afternoon can turn. If you haven’t, you may see it soon, and the weeks around the […]
Aging in Place Before Winter: A Room-by-Room Home Safety Checklist
Walk up your parents’ driveway at dusk in November. Do it once, before the first frost. Notice the step you never thought about, the porch light that flickers, the stretch of path where leaves will turn to ice. Most older adults want to stay in their own homes, and most homes were not built with […]
Holiday Visits: How to Check In on Aging Parents Without Starting a Fight
You get to your parents’ house the day before Thanksgiving, and you open the fridge to put away the pie. There is expired milk. There are three jars of the same mustard. The crisper drawer is empty, and your father says he’s been eating out. On the porch, you notice a new dent in the […]
