The Folks Set a Date!

I spent the morning trying to convince my mother that she could part with shoes that no longer fit, were popular decades ago, had stacked heels, or only matched glitter outfits. I threw all the shoes in a box and hid them in the car trunk for eventual disposal to Goodwill. I already made one secret run before breakfast to the thrift shop with piles of clothing, most of it size large, never worn. Note that my mother is 4 foot 10, weighs 100 pounds, is quite petite – but these clothes were really good bargains in their time.

We went off for yet another free lunch at the retirement facility -- herring/gefilte fish salad, an acquired taste. Next on the agenda was visiting an apartment that has been held for them since January. We took pictures. We measured counters. We took turns sitting on the shower seat. We discussed how to fit 6 broken vacuum cleaners and hundreds of old bed sheets into a place that offers cleaning once a week and free linens.

Maybe it was watching the old family movies last night, maybe it was a growing realization that they couldn’t rely on their neighbors much longer for trips to the grocery store, maybe it was just the right time -- but they agreed to commit to a move-in date.

Imagine my surprise when my father whipped out his checkbook – even after the facility had waived the deposit and move-in fee – to ensure they had a spot. Much negotiation ensued about the date – the marketing manager wanted April Fool’s Day, I was positioning for Mother’s Day, my mother said “can you hold it until Labor Day? We need some more time.” We settled on May 27 as the absolute deadline. Everyone shook hands, I blinked back tears of relief, and immediately went into micro-planning mode to facilitate the transition. If it were up to me, I would hire movers to come tomorrow, with or without the post-it notes.

To celebrate, I rented ‘Up” for the evening to watch with my parents – sort of backwards logic there, if you’ve seen the film – but hey, I got it for a $1. I like bargains too.

I brought back the box of shoes from the car trunk for my mother to go through again. Heck, she can keep them all if she wants. Some things I totally understand.