In June of 2022, I put my 86 year old mother in my Ford Escape Hybrid, packed to the ceiling and drove from Boulder, Colorado to Fort Wayne, Indiana. We had sold our house that my parents had bought in 1968 and would be moving to stay with my brother until we could find a new house in Fort Wayne. My boyfriend and I have been living with her for many years, and we all decided to make this move together so that she could be closer to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I have come to realize that what I am doing to take care of my mother is not unusual, but nonetheless unchartered territory. I am writing to vent my experience in hopes that it might help others and bring awareness to the nuances of taking care of parents at home.