Settling In (Again)

We moved my mom from Maritstone of Franklin to NHC Place in Cool Springs yesterday.  Alice, Tracy and I all took off from work to handle the logistics of the move.  Tracy picked up my mom early and took her for a drive, while Alice and I were with the movers at Maristone.  My mom's close friend, Jan Baker, met Tracy and my mom at NHC place, where my mom had her hair done, then ate lunch.  Jan sat and talked with my outside while Tracy and Alice supervised the movers and set up her apartment.  Then, I met the movers at my mom's house and directed them as they unloaded the furniture my mom won't be using her new place.  A lot of logistics and a lot of moving parts, but we got it done.

It was funny, in a way, but mostly sad, when two of my mom's longtime neighbors walked over to see if everything was okay.  When they saw the moving van, they were afraid my mom had died.  That's just where we are right now, I guess.

Almost exactly like when we moved her into Maristone last November, the move seemed to go well  until the evening.  After she ate dinner with Alice - Tracy had slipped away to see her children - my mom refused to go into her apartment and insisted on going "upstairs."  She lived on the second floor at Maristone.  She was kind of ugly to Alice, then to Tracy, as well, when she got to NHC Place after dinner.  Fortunately, she calmed down and seemed to settle in with Tracy for the night.

Often times I feel guilty because Tracy seems to get stuck with hard stuff when it comes to dealing with my mom.  Last night, for example, I had to coach J.P.'s baseball game at 7 p.m., so I was otherwise occupied for the evening.  We're in different places in our lives - all three of us - so our work and family schedules allow us to be involved at different times.  Alice is not married and sells real estate, so her schedule during the week is a little more flexible.  Tracy's works during the day as a physical therapist but her children are older, so she has more evening time free.  I work, of course, as a lawyer but my children are younger, so I don't have as much free time in the evenings.  Doing trial work, my professional life is quite stressful at times.  I think it all evens out.  At least, I hope it does.

I am grateful, truly grateful, for the many ways Alice and Tracy have cared for, helped and loved my mom during these dark, sometimes hopeless days.  I couldn't do it on my own and I couldn't handle it, emotionally, on my own.

If you read the blog or maybe just read this post, please stop by and see my mom or send her a card.  Also, please share her address with others who know her and ask them to send her a card.  She loves to get cards from friends.  Her new address is below:

Jane Newman
c/o NHC Place
211 Cool Springs Boulevard
Apt. #307
Franklin, Tennessee  37067