We did it - My FIL is moved in!

My father-in-law Dean is 88 years old. He is pretty awesome and has lead a very full life - he served in WWII and worked many jobs. He built his home in the late 1940's and has lived there ever since. Dean's brother Leo built his home right next door and the brothers raised their children together. 

Leo passed away two weeks ago and so Dean is now the last sibling left from his family. Like I mentioned, Dean is 88 and has some health problems. He has been in the hospital four times in the last four months. The last time they kept him 11 days. 

He was discharged this past Friday into our care. My hubby is an only child and so we took turns living with him for the last 5 days. We have done this in the past but Dean didn't need help with everything. Let me just say that anyone that gets up in the middle of the night to change diapers or feed someone else is amazing. They should be given a major award. We did it for 5 nights and we are wiped.

Dean's family doctor told him a month ago that he shouldn't be living alone. And the search began for the "perfect" assisted living community. We found it a few weeks ago and took him up for a tour yesterday. 

Clearly a man that built his home and has been independent for so long doesn't love the idea of moving. But, he did say it was nice and that he could be happy there. We didn't let him "stew" on it for too long; We moved him in today. 

Dean has a private studio apartment in a gorgeous and new assisted living building. God truly blessed us with this place. We literally got the LAST room and that was only because we asked them to hold it. 

The community is smaller than most which we loved. It allows the residents to really get to know each other. There are lounges throughout the building and Dean can go get ice cream whenever he wants.

Dean on his tour

Lounge

The other side of the lounge. All the cabinets have snacks for the residents. They can come in at any time and get a snack, a piece of fruit, ice cream, make toast or a sandwich, etc. This is in addition to the three meals a day. We stayed for a meal yesterday and it was GOOD. Really, really good. The roast beef was amazing and they make everything from scratch.

Dean's hallway.

Dean's kitchenette after we set it up

See the photo on the wall? That is Dean's house!

There are no hospital beds which we also loved.

Dean's oxygen tank which they hope to wean him off of

The lift chair

Private bathroom

Private shower

We do need to buy a few things which we will do tomorrow. I really missed life at a retirement community and cannot wait to make a wreath for Dean's door. Today I promised Dean that I would visit and play BINGO. They have a ton of activities including bands, field trips to the store and local lake, chair exercise and so much more. 

They clean the apartment every. single. day. Isn't that great? And if Dean "makes a mess", they will gladly clean the bathroom more than that. They have nurses on staff 24/7, have an in-house barber and doctors that make house calls. 

Tomorrow I will post photos of Dean's house. Our next step is to start renovating the house so we can get it ready to sell. I wish I was in better shape but we are EXCITED for all the projects. I love to paint. Plus, we plan on staging which is always fun.